Discover
Discover
The Plain of Jars lies on a plateau in central Laos and takes its name from more than 2,100 large tubular stone jars. The property has 15 components with jars, stone discs, secondary burials, tombstones, quarries and funerary objects.
History
History
UNESCO notes that the jars were used for funerary practices in the Iron Age, between 500 BCE and 500 CE, and are the most prominent evidence of the civilisation that made them before it disappeared around 500 CE. Between 1964 and 1973 the area was heavily bombed, and unexploded ordnance still has to be cleared.
People & Culture
People & Culture
A local legend says the jars were used to brew liquor to celebrate a victory in an ancient war, while archaeologists have found evidence linking them to funerary rites. For us, legend and evidence are both ways people try to understand what ancestors left behind, and they are best told side by side, clearly labelled.
Living Heritage
Living Heritage
Ordnance clearance has made the sites safer to visit, and communities in Xiengkhuang now earn income from tourism. The Plain of Jars tells two stories: an Iron Age past and the scars of 20th-century war.
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