A single stone jar excavated in northern Laos has yielded the densely packed bones of at least 37 people, placed there across nearly three centuries, according to a report by Live Science. The vessel, known as Jar 1, is the first of its kind on record to contain undisturbed human remains, and its contents are reshaping what researchers know about one of Southeast Asia's most puzzling ancient landscapes.
The jar sits at Site 75 on the Plain of Jars, a remote highland plateau in the Xieng Khouang region of northern Laos covered by more than 2,000 hollowed-out stone vessels. The jars range from roughly 3.3 to 10 feet tall and were constructed along trade routes used heavily between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500. Despite nearly a century of research, their purpose has remained unclear.
Jar 1 stands out from the rest. Measuring 6.7 feet wide with unusually thick walls and a broad, bowl-like base, it is among the largest jars currently documented in Laos. "It is among the largest jars currently known in Laos," said Nicholas Skopal, an archaeologist at James Cook University in Australia and co-author of the study. "Combined with the extraordinary quantity of human remains inside, Jar 1 currently stands apart from other jars excavated in Laos."
Radiocarbon dating of teeth from the jar produced results far more recent than the team anticipated. The bones, belonging to individuals ranging from young children to adults, were deposited in multiple phases between 890 and 1160 AD, well outside the Iron Age window researchers had previously assumed. "We determined that it was an example of secondary internment during the 9th and 12th centuries AD, in which human remains were deposited after an initial period of decomposition elsewhere," Skopal explained.
The arrangement of the bones inside supported that conclusion. Skulls were placed along the edges of the jar while arm and leg bones were bundled together, suggesting the jar was not a primary burial site but rather a secondary collection point for remains that had already decomposed elsewhere. "The current evidence suggests this was a collective mortuary space used repeatedly over generations, potentially by extended family or community groups," Skopal said.
Also found inside the jar were multicolored glass beads. Chemical analysis traced their origins to South India and Mesopotamia, pointing to trade connections between the Laotian highlands and regions of Southern and Western Asia that researchers had not previously documented at this site. The presence of these beads, combined with the dating evidence, suggests the jar's use coincided with a period of expanding trans-Asian commerce connected to powers including China's Song Dynasty and Cambodia's Khmer Empire.
The study, co-led by Skopal and Souilya Bounxayhip of the Lao Department of Heritage, was published Tuesday, May 19, in the journal Antiquity. The findings challenge the long-held assumption that the jars served as final resting places and push the timeline of their active use forward by several centuries.
Researchers say the work is far from finished. "Ancient DNA will hopefully allow us to investigate biological relationships between individuals," Skopal said. The site's undisturbed condition also raises the possibility that comparable locations remain hidden across the Laotian uplands, and the team believes continued excavation could transform the broader understanding of the region's ancient social and cultural networks.
