Preliminary site report of a stone jar burial in the Lao People's Democratic Republic

Abstract

For nearly a century, questions have remained as to the purpose and age of the Plain of Jars in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Scholars have generally argued that these megaliths served a mortuary function, either as symbolic monuments or receptacles for the dead. However, due to a paucity of mortuary evidence associated with the jars, it has been difficult to conclusively argue either way. Aside from small amounts of cremated human bone fragments found within a limited number of jars, to date no substantive human burials have been found inside a stone jar across this vast megalithic landscape. Additionally, the stone jars are thought to date to the Southeast Asian Iron Age, between ca. 500 BCE-500 CE, with ritual activity continuing into the 13th century CE. This paper provides the first substantial evidence that the jars were used to contain the deceased for either primary or secondary burials during the 9th to 12th century CE.