Ancient site · Megalith
Plain of Jars
Also known as Thong Hai Hin
The Plain of Jars, on the Xiangkhoang Plateau of Laos, is a landscape of thousands of carved stone jars, some weighing several tonnes, grouped at more than 100 sites. Madeleine Colani's 1930s excavations linked them to burial, finding bones, beads and pottery.
Recent work showed the stone at Site 1 was hauled from a quarry 8 km away. Optically stimulated luminescence suggests some jars were placed between about 1240 and 660 BCE, but excavations at Site 1 found secondary burials from the 8th to 13th centuries CE, so how long the jars were used is still debated. UNESCO listed it in 2019.
- Dates
- jars placed perhaps c. 1240–660 BCE; burials at Site 1 8th–13th centuries CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 19.43° N, 103.15° E
How we know
The jars are real, but dating them is hard: one study puts them in place over 2,500 years ago, while burials around them are much later.
Nearby sites
- Ban Chiang c. 2000 or 1500 BCE – c. 200 CE (start date disputed)
- Đông Sơn c. 1000 BCE – 1st century CE (culture)
- Cổ Loa Citadel c. 4th–2nd century BCE
- Spirit Cave c. 12,000–7,000 radiocarbon years ago (very roughly 10,000–5500 BCE)
- Beikthano c. 200 BCE – 6th century CE
- Óc Eo c. 2nd century BCE – 7th century CE