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The Plain of Jars is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. Scattered in the landscape
of the Xieng Khouang plateau are thousands of megalithic jars. These stone jars appear
in clusters, ranging from a single or a few to several hundred jars at lower foothills
surrounding the central plain and upland valleys.
Initial research of the Plain of Jars in the early 1930s claimed that the stone jars are
associated with prehistoric burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists
in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human
remains, burial goods and ceramics around the stone jars. The Plain of Jars is dated
to the Iron Age and is one of the most fascinating and important sites for studying Southeast
Asian prehistory. The Plain of Jars has the potential to shed light on the relationship
between increasingly complex societies and megalithic structures and provide insight
into social organisation of Iron Age Southeast Asia's communities.
Lao stories and legends tell of a race of giants who inhabited the area ruled by a king
called Khun Cheung, who fought a long, eventually victorious battle against his enemy. He allegedly
created the jars to brew and store huge amounts of lau hai ("lau" means "alcohol", "hai" means
"jar"—So "lau hai" means rice beer or rice wine in the jars) to celebrate his victory.
Another local tradition states the jars were molded, using natural materials such as clay,
sand, sugar, and animal products in a type of stone mix. This led the locals to believe
the cave at Site 1 was actually a kiln, and that the huge jars were fired there and are
not actually of stone.