Plain of Jars may become a World Heritage Site

[Lone Rider]

Talks underway on Plain of Jars future

Experts from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) met with government representatives yesterday in Xieng Khuang province to discuss the conditions required for the centuries-old Plain of Jars to become a World Heritage Site. The Plain of Jars is one of the tourist sites that attracts many visitors to Xieng Khuang province. The two-day meeting, sponsored by the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, recognised that Laos needs to establish a master plan for the development and management of the site, according to a local source. The source said the meeting was told that more studies were needed to be carried out at the Plain of Jars, particularly on its history, archeology and cultural importance, as well as a deeper look at the surrounding environment and nature-related issues. The meeting was chaired by Xieng Khuang provincial Deputy Governor, Mr Khampien Sinuanthong, and attended by more than 30 participants including about 10 from UNESCO and the Australian Embassy to Laos. The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism's Heritage Department Deputy Director General, Mr Viengkeo Souksavatdy, told the Vientiane Times previously that the meeting was important to prioritise what need to be carried out further so Laos could work on before submitting a formal proposal for its world heritage status.



The Plain of Jars is a megalithic archaeological landscape thought to date back 2,500 to 3,000 years. It contains more than 2,000 stone jars, the biggest of which is more than 3m high with a circumference of 8m. Scattered throughout the Xieng Khuang plateau, the stone jars appear in clusters, ranging from a single or a few to several hundred jars in the lower foothills surrounding the central plain and upland valleys.

Mr Viengkeo said several parties had expressed their intention to support Laos in listing the Plain of Jars as a World Heritage Site, including Australia and France. The Plain of Jars would be the third Lao entry on the UNESCO list, alongside the Luang Prabang townsite and Vat Phou in Champassak province. Mr Viengkeo reiterated the importance of working out a proper master plan for the site in order to make sure it ties in with the province's socio-economic development plan. In a report issued last year, the Global Heritage Fund named the Plain of Jars as one of the top 10 endangered historical sites in Asia. These sites were described as having the potential for “irreparable loss and destruction” in the face of economic expansion, large visitor numbers, poor technical resources and looting. Mr Viengkeo admitted development in Xieng Khuang province could pose a threat to the Plain of Jars if the province's socio-economic plan was not undertaken carefully and correctly.

By Times Reporters (Latest Update July 2, 2013) - Source: Vientiane Times

 

[The Bigfella]

Fabulous. I loved Phonsavan and surrounds.... particularly liked coming across random jars in the middle of nowhere







I actually spent some time trying to get to some of the other numbered sites (other than the big ones... 1, 2 and 3)... but came to a fair few dead ends

 

[2wheels]

I'm aware that this type of discussion has been going on for a long time already and I would have thought the area has already has sufficient 'study' and 'research'
done on it (over decades) so that all the required info is already available. But then, it is an arm of the UN involved here and we know how long they take to act
(if at all!).
Of course it should be a World Heritage Site, and should have been years ago.

 

[Lone Rider]

Fabulous. I loved Phonsavan and surrounds.... particularly liked coming across random jars in the middle of nowhere. I actually spent some time trying to get to some of the other numbered sites (other than the big ones... 1, 2 and 3)... but came to a fair few dead ends

Bigfella,

There are some maps of Jar sites in Laos including a map based where Madame Colani did some of here research a long time ago on the UNESCO site. Downloaded them some 6 years ago but lost them when my hard-disc crashed and just found them again. Tried to upload them here but they are to big for my slow Internet connection.

The Colani map is here: http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/culture/Plain_of_jars/pdjMap/Colani_Sites.jpg

and the other map with jar sites is here: http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/...Map/DistributionJars_23Apr2007_Website_01.jpg

Will upload these maps also to my post of RA on the provincial What To Do and See posts - http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...on/2429-about-xiengkhouang-things-see-do.html

 

[The Bigfella]

The Colani and other research is interesting reading. I didn't have a problem with a lack of sites... its just that several I tried to get to simply weren't reachable on the bike. I'll post a couple of photos

 

[The Bigfella]

Trying to find some of the more isolated sites, I ended up in places like this



which soon deteriorated to this



... and then petered out.

....and this....



That one above was a few kilometres from the field with all the bomb craters. The site was over on that next ridge, I think

Another one. I went quite a long way in, chasing a site somewhere over behind the bike



Got to here and decided to walk down for a look, before riding it....



Yeah, I could get down it easy enough



... but then what?



Decided I didn't want to see that one either.

 

[The Bigfella]

Hmmm - want to see if we can get some funding, eh Auke? I wouldn't mind a couple of months poking around there.

 

[Lone Rider]

Ancient human remains, artefacts unearthed at Plain of Jars

Excavations by Lao and Australian archaeologists at the Plain of Jars Site 1 in Paek district, Xieng Khuang province, have uncovered three human remains and some artefacts dating back 2,500-3,000 years. Two human remains were found together at Jar Site 1 some 70cm underground while the third was discovered 13 metres away.

This was the third collaborative excavation by the team of archaeologists from the Archaeology Division of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism's Department of National Heritage, and the Australian National University.

Two of the human remains uncovered at Jar Site 1.

The team has also worked with provincial and district information, culture and tourism sectors to examine the remains and artefacts since they first visited the site, where they worked from February 7-29, according to a senior ministry official. Archaeology Division Director Dr Thonglith Luangkhoth told Vientiane Times yesterday that the remains and artefacts were located about 8km from the centre of Phonsavanh district, and were now being kept safe in the provincial museum. “This discovery marks a significant milestone since archaeological excavations began in the area in 1930 in collaboration with a French archaeologist,” he said.

Dr Thonglith explained that some human remains and artefacts including tools and large stone vessels were initially uncovered. Then in 1995-1996 Lao and Japanese archaeologists unearthed more remains along with ancient relics including household items. Dr Thonglith said the human remains and items were being kept at the Xieng Khuang provincial museum, adding “The discovery of these human remains and artefacts is an important part of studying and researching the history of the Plain of Jars.” He said the division planned to work with archaeologists from the provincial Information, Culture and Tourism Department and the Australian National University next year, adding “We will continue to search for other human remains and identify potential relics of interest in other areas.”



Dr Thonglith said the human remains would eventually be put on public display following further investigation of some small samples by the Australian National University's lab. There has long been public interest in the history of the Plain of Jars and the origins of the stone vessels but mystery still surrounds them. While some believe the jars were built to store human remains others theorise they were used to boil liquid during the Khoun Cheuang period. Jar Site 1 or (Thong Hai Hin 1) is the more popular of the two sites in Xieng Khuang province, located 8 km southwest of Phonsavanh and easily reached by tuk-tuk or bike. The site counts 331 jars, including the largest single jar - said to have been the victory cup of Khoun Cheuang. According to local legend, Khoun Cheuang (6th century AD) fought a long battle against his enemies and liberated the local people from oppressive rulers. The jars were supposedly made to brew and store huge amounts of rice alcohol which were drunk during the seven-month long celebration held in honour of the victory.

Source: Vientiane Times by Phaisythong Chandara, (Latest Update March 2, 2016)

 

[The Bigfella]

Excellent. The husband of the woman who runs the Chiangmai Erotic Gardens is an archeologist at that Uni. I wonder if he's involved in this dig? We just missed him by one day when we visited the gardens this week.

Here's a bit of drone footage of Jar Site 1 from late last year

 

[Lone Rider]

Stone jars used to dispose of the dead in ancient Laos, Australian researchers say

One of Asia's most mysterious archaeological sites, the Plain of Jars in Laos, was used as an ancient burial ground, Australian researchers say.

Bones in a grave at the Plain of Jars in Laos.
PHOTO: Researchers also uncovered the first primary burial to be discovered at the site. (Supplied: Australian National University)

[video]https://www.facebook.com/1032083466834899/videos/1057754770934435/[/video]
Jar site 1 Fly over

The Plain of Jars in central Laos is made up of 90 sites, each containing ancient carved stone jars up to three metres tall. On Monday, the Australian National University (ANU) announced a team from the School of Archaeology and Anthropology had discovered human remains estimated to be 2,500 years old, shedding light on the use of the sites and jars which had been previously unknown. "One theory is that [the jars] were used to decompose the bodies. Later, after the flesh was removed, the remains may have been buried around the jars," Dr O'Reilly said. Lead ANU researcher Dr Dougald O'Reilly said the project was the first major archaeological dig at the Plain of Jars since the 1930s........................

The whole article is here: Ancient-stone-jars-used-for-burial-practices-in-laos-anu-says

 

[KTMphil]

My favorite region in Laos, so much there


DSC_0102_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[Lone Rider]

Virtual Reality and Drones Could Unlock Secrets of Mysterious Plain of Jars in Laos

Ancient, monumental sandstone jars up to two-and-a-half metres high dot the landscape in central Laos in seemingly random patterns — what was their purpose? Who built the sites? Where did they live? These questions have perplexed locals and visitors for centuries but now researchers from Australia’s Monash University and the Australian National University are using drone technology and virtual reality tools to remotely dig for answers, and explore untouched sites of the aptly named Plain of Jars.

For decades, the danger of unexploded bombs has made archaeological exploration there risky. Over 270 million cluster bombs rained down on Laos from 1964 to 1973 as part of a US campaign to halt the spread of communism through Indo China. About 30 per cent of the bombs did not explode on impact, leaving about 80 million bombs still on the surface, or just below.

Only a handful of the 80 or so known sites have been cleared of ordnance and archaeologists have had to use well-trodden paths or enlist local people to navigate them through safe pathways to sites of interest such as quarries. Now drone technology is opening up new possibilities for exploration and discovery. “The use of drones is critically important for us because we can look at even a cleared site,” Dr Louise Shewan told Catalyst. “We can survey it with a drone, but often the adjacent quarry site isn’t cleared so we can at least fly the drones over the quarry site and get an understanding of what’s there.” After the drone has completed its surveillance, the photographs are uploaded into software that generates a very realistic photo 3D model of the site.

Dr Shewan and her colleague Dr Dougald O’Reilly then use Monash’s CAVE2 — an immersive 3D facility — to explore the site remotely and securely with virtual reality glasses. “This technology allows us to compare at a macro scale the different types of sites, the distribution of jars, so there’s a lot of different angles that you can use to approach the data,” Dr O’Reilly said.

Currently, helicopters mounted with lidar are used to reveal what lies beneath jungle covered sites but the Monash team are in the process of developing a drone equipped with software that will enable it to fly autonomously over and under tree canopy while analysing the data in real time. Earlier this year, in a collaborative project with the Laos Government, the ANU/Monash team revealed that the Plain of Jars was used for different types of human burial practice, but there’s still no understanding of how the jars got there, who created them, or evidence of where the people who are buried there might have lived. The archaeologists hope to use the new drone to look for drag marks where the jars have been brought from the quarry areas, habitation areas and ceramic scatters.

“We can use this technology for mapping and data interpretation, we can look at the transportation of the jars,” Dr O’Reilly said. “With the use of drones, we could probably access all of the sites. “Everybody does love a good mystery but every good mystery has to have a solution at the end.” The team hope that using virtual reality as a digital record and archiving tool will win the Plain of Jars UNESCO World Heritage status.

Source: ABC.NET

 

[oldbloke]

That source 'd be abc.net.AU wouldn't it??
Anyway, if you use some geoproxy trickery you might get the whole story here : http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4557769.htm . I watched it last night on TV.. not sure if it's geoblocked or not...

 

[Lone Rider]

That source 'd be abc.net.AU wouldn't it??
Anyway, if you use some geoproxy trickery you might get the whole story here : http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4557769.htm . I watched it last night on TV.. not sure if it's geoblocked or not...

Yes, it is from ABC.Net and No, it is not geoblocked so you can watch the 11 minutes and 15 seconds movie about it on you computer