The Jars Are Stone, but the Bones Are from 1000 CE
The jars themselves can't be radiocarbon-dated, but human bones, tooth ablation, and dates clustering around 1000 CE both inside and outside the jars suggest this stone-jar mortuary tradition persisted long after the Iron Age.
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Stone jars can't be dated; the bones inside belong to 1000 CE
Stone jars are stone—not organic material—so radiocarbon-dating is impossible. Early scholar Madeleine Colani proposed in the 1920s–30s that they belonged to the Iron Age, between 100 BCE and 500 CE, a view that persisted. But human remains and organic materials excavated around Sites 1 and 75 in recent years have yielded dates clustering around 1000 CE, hundreds of years later. Since the jars themselves cannot be dated, researchers must rely on indirect inference from surrounding deposits and bones. This gap is why the debate persists.
— NickThe Plain of Jars is not a plain but about 127 scattered sites across mountains
Plain of Jars misleadingly suggests a single valley. It actually refers to a vast region spanning northern Laos into Vietnam and northern Myanmar, with about 127 known sites spread across hundreds of kilometers. Each site receives a number—Site 1, Site 2, Site 3—assigned in discovery order. Site 1 is the largest, most famous, and the only major tourist attraction, but most others lie hidden in remote mountains. Some sites hold one jar; others as many as 400 at a single location.
— CharlieLaos suffered the heaviest bombing per capita; archaeologists must clear ordnance first
Xinhuang Province, where the stone jars stand, endured massive bombing during the Secret War of the 1960s–70s, when the U.S. conducted covert raids against North Vietnamese supply lines. Laos has been more heavily bombed per capita and by total tonnage than anywhere on Earth. Before excavation, archaeologists must hire specialized UXO clearance teams to sweep each site. At Site 75, nearby hillsides still bear massive bomb craters, and the main jar's wall damage likely came from an explosion.
— NickBombs have become everyday objects here—house pillars, planters, cutlery—still injuring children
In the stone-jar region, bombs are not historical artifacts but still-present objects in daily use, still causing injuries. Locals stand bomb casings upright as house-foundation pillars, repurpose them as planters, and melt the metal to make spoons and jewelry. The region has many bomb-injured residents. Cluster munitions, round and toy-like, kill and wound children with particular frequency. War's legacy is not a history-book entry but lived daily risk.
— CharlieScholars agree jars served burial purposes; the actual methods vary entirely site to site
Researchers broadly accept that stone jars relate to mortuary practice, yet the specific methods differ radically. Colani found cremated bones inside jars at Site 1, suggesting cremation occurred there. Others have found secondary-burial bones stacked on the ground near jars, pottery burials, and one primary interment. At Site 75, roughly 40 individuals were deposited in a single jar with no cremation. Different sites show completely different mortuary methods. Only about 12% of known sites have been excavated or surveyed, so unified conclusions seem unlikely. Burial practice appears highly localized, perhaps even family- or clan-specific.
— Charlie/NickOne jar held forty people—but only scattered fragments, not complete skeletons
Site 75's largest jar held remains attributable to roughly 40 individuals, but not 40 complete skeletons—rather scattered bone fragments and teeth, many poorly preserved. This indicates secondary burial: the body decomposed or was defleshed elsewhere, bones were collected later, then deposited in the jar, unlike primary burial where the body goes directly underground. The remains range from roughly 18 months old to adults, some teeth show ablation marks, and the age span of the bones suggests roughly 200 years, implying the jar saw reuse across multiple generations by the same family or group.
— Charlie/NickTwenty glass beads prove this society traded with South Asia and Sassanid Persia
Analysis of 20 glass beads from Site 75 shows they match characteristics of South Asian production between the 1st millennium BCE and the 11th century CE, with one possibly from the Sassanid Empire. This demolishes the old image of jar culture as isolated and closed. These people clearly participated in broader trade networks. The beads, along with iron tools (a small knife) and pottery vessels left as grave goods, suggest this location lay on trade routes—a hypothesis Colani first advanced.
— CharlieThe jars were carved on-site from raw stone, not shaped at a quarry and hauled upslope
Test pits beside Site 75 show stratigraphy revealing how the jars were installed: people raised and leveled the natural slope to create a platform, positioned the stone there, then wedged large shale or slate blocks underneath to prevent rocking. Crucially, the jars are made of conglomerate—naturally cemented small stones—and carving sheds chips that accumulate at the base. These chips lie exactly where they should if the jars were carved on-site from raw stone, not shaped at a quarry and hauled whole upslope.
— CharlieIn their own words · checked verbatim
Laos is actually the most heavily bombed country in the world, so more than, you know, Germany or something like that.
Nick12:22
everywhere you go you see these huge bombs being used as everyday material so i've seen them in stilts holding up houses i've seen them turned into flower boxes it's amazing you also get lots of cutlery mostly spoons and jewelry made out of the metal collected from them so you can really see that these bombs aren't old news they're current and they're they're dangerously current
Charlie13:22
children as well they tend to really like picking up the cluster bombs which are quite circular and round and one game of he in the middle leads to you know a terrible life for them
Charlie14:23
I think where there is broad consensus is that they have a mortuary function. The question is, how exactly did they have a mortuary function?
Nick20:34
what we found with the human remains in this jar you didn't have 40 complete skeletons we didn't have that what we had was it was partial bones and some weren't in great condition
Nick30:17
only 12 percent of known sites have had any kind of excavation or survey work done at them so that's a really small number
Charlie37:29
Figures
| Known stone-jar sites | approximately 127 | 8:16 |
| Individuals identified at Site 75 | approximately 40 | 28:00 |
| Glass beads recovered from Site 75 | 20 | 41:36 |
| Sites excavated or surveyed | approximately 12% | 37:29 |
| Common dating of bones near jars | approximately 1000 CE | 5:08 |
Glossary
- secondary burial
- A mortuary practice in which the body decomposes or is defleshed elsewhere before the bones are collected and moved to a final resting place such as a stone jar.
- MNI (minimum number of individuals)
- An estimate of how many individuals are represented in bone remains, calculated by counting repeated skeletal elements like skulls.
- tooth ablation
- The deliberate removal or modification of teeth as a cultural practice.
- Secret War
- The covert U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnamese supply lines in Laos during the Vietnam War era, 1960s–70s.
How to listen
History enthusiasts and archaeology professionals interested in Southeast Asian archaeology, ancient burial customs, or the ongoing impact of war.
The opening two ad segments—History Hit subscription and Dan Snow podcast promotion—can be skipped.