Thonglith Luangkhoth

In the rugged province of Xieng Khoaung in upper northern Laos are scattered more than 2,000 large carved stone jars. They vary in size, with the biggest standing at just over 2.5 metres tall and weighing in at 30 tonnes. The jars are believed to have been used for funerary purposes, with human remains (including teeth) found buried around some of the jars. Our Lao-Australian archaeological research team has been working to unlock some of the secrets of the Laos jar sites since 2016. Site 2 Jars.

Louise Shewan, Dougald O’Reilly & Thonglith Luangkhoth Click to enlarge Figure 1. Location of site 1, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos. Introduction The megalithic stone jar sites of Laos remain one of Southeast Asia’s enduring archaeological mysteries (Figure 1). These sites were first brought to the attention of western scholars by Madeleine Colani (1935) who documented dozens of jar sites and conducted excavations in several locations.