The Plain of Jars remain an archaeological mystery

Photo: Wikipedia

Huge stone jars litter the plains of northeastern Laos and are akin to Easter Island’s stone heads – no-one is sure who built them, how they were built or why.

There are some 400 clusters of large stone jars crafted out of sandstone and granite, scattered in a linear path across the vast plains at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera mountain chain. 

The jars weigh up to 14 tonnes and measure between one and three metres. They are thought to have been built by the mysterious Mon-Khmer people whom little is known about and used either as funeral urns or for storing drinking water to quench the trade caravans travelling south from India. Local legends say a race of giants once lived in the region and built the jars to store lao lao – a potent rice wine.

The largest cluster of jars is located outside the small town of Phonsavan, and known as Site 1.

Only three sites are open to the public as the plains are strewn with unexploded bombs dropped by the US during the Vietnam War. Make sure you pay attention to signs when visiting the jars – don’t wander off the track if you value your limbs...