• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Friday, September 22, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

More mysterious jars of the dead unearthed in Laos

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 7, 2019
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Image: ANU

ANU and Uni of Melbourne Archaeologists have discovered 15 new sites in Laos containing more than one hundred 1000-year-old massive stone jars possibly used for the dead.

The jars of Laos are one of archaeology’s enduring mysteries. Experts believe they were related to disposal of the dead, but nothing is known about the jars’ original purpose and the people who brought them there.

The new finds show the distribution of the jars was more widespread than previously thought and could unlock the secrets surrounding their origin.

The sites, deep in remote and mountainous forest and containing 137 jars, were identified by ANU PhD student Nicholas Skopal with officials from the Lao government.

“These new sites have really only been visited by the occasional tiger hunter. Now we’ve rediscovered them, we’re hoping to build a clear picture about this culture and how it disposed of its dead,” said Mr Skopal.

ANU archaeologist Dr Dougald O’Reilly and Dr Louise Shewan from the University of Melbourne co-led the team that made the discovery. Dr O’Reilly said the new sites show the ancient burial practices involving the jars was “more widespread than previously thought”.

“It’s apparent the jars, some weighing several tonnes, were carved in quarries, and somehow transported, often several kilometres to their present locations,” Dr O’Reilly.

“But why these sites were chosen as the final resting place for the jars is still a mystery. On top of that we’ve got no evidence of occupation in this region.”

This year’s excavations revealed beautifully carved discs which are most likely burial markers placed around the jars. Curiously, the decorated side of each disc has been buried face down.

Dr O’Reilly said the imagery on the discs found so far included concentric circles, pommels, human figures and creatures.

“Decorative carving is relatively rare at the jar sites and we don’t know why some discs have animal imagery and others have geometric designs,” Dr O’Reilly said.

Among typical iron-age artefacts found with the burials – decorative ceramics, glass beads, iron tools, discs worn in the ears and spindle whorls for cloth making – one particular find piqued the researchers’ interest.

“Curiously we also found many miniature jars, which look just like the giant jars themselves but made of clay, so we’d love to know why these people represented the same jars in which they placed their dead, in miniature to be buried with their dead,” Dr O’Reilly said.

“We’ve seen similar megalithic jars in Assam in India and in Sulawesi in Indonesia so we’d like to investigate possible connections in prehistory between these disparate regions.”

Dr O’Reilly and his co-research Director on the project, Dr Louise Shewan, from the University of Melbourne would like to acknowledge Dr Thonglith Luangkoth of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism without whose kind hospitality none of our research would be possible.

###

Media Contact
Jane Faure-Brac
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/more-mysterious-jars-of-the-dead-unearthed-in-laos

Tags: ArchaeologyArts/CultureCollaborationDeath/DyingDeveloping CountriesEvolutionGeographyHistoryMinoritiesNew World
Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Ochsner Medical Center - New Orleans

Ochsner offers tuition assistance to aspiring nurses and doctors

September 22, 2023
Chronic Pain Chart

Study shows millions of people live with co-occuring chronic pain and mental health symptoms

September 21, 2023

Scientists reveal intricate mechanisms cells use to build protein destruction signals

September 21, 2023

Global study reveals extensive impact of metal mining contamination on rivers and floodplains, suggesting need for new safeguards to address spike in demand for ‘green’ minerals

September 21, 2023
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Microbe Computers

    58 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 15
  • University of South Florida scientist: Barnacles may help reveal location of lost Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Lithuanian invention at the forefront of solar technology breakthrough

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • A pioneering study from Politecnico di Milano sheds light on one of the still poorly understood aspects of cancer

    34 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Ochsner offers tuition assistance to aspiring nurses and doctors

Peru’s Operation Mercury stopped most illegal gold mining in one biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Study shows millions of people live with co-occuring chronic pain and mental health symptoms

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 57 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In