The Plain of Jars is the main reason to come to Phonsavan. The enigmatic Plain of Jars in Xieng Khouang makes up one of the most important sites for studying the late prehistory of mainland Southeast Asia, although little is known about the people that constructed the megalith stone jars about 2,500 years ago.
Between 1964 and 1973, Laos was subject to the most intense bombing raids ever by US bombers (see Secret War). In this period, the US dropped more ordnance on Laos, and particularly on the Plain of Jars, including 262 million cluster bombs, than it dropped during World War II. 80 million failed to explode and remain a deadly threat to the population.
The large quantity of UXOs (unexploded ordnance) in the area, especially cluster munitions, limits free movement. All over the plain evidence of the bombing raids can be seen in the form of broken or displaced jars and bomb craters. Sightseeing on the Plain of Jars can only be done on cleared and marked pathways.
The Mines Advisory Group, a non-governmental organization, in collaboration with UNESCO and funded by the New Zealand government (NZAID), conducted a UXO clearance phase at the three most visited sites from July 2004 until July 2005. A second phase of UXO clearance at the sites also funded by NZAID was undertaken in 2007; four more jar sites were made safe.
In collaboration with the Lao government and NZAID a visitors centre has been opened (13 Aug 2013) at the Plain of Jars Site 1. It is at the bottom of the hill 200m prior to the Plain of Jars Site 1 car park. It contains good quality English language information panels on the history of the Plain of Jars culture, as well as its modern history during the 1964–1975 conflict.
The government is considering applying for status as a UNESCO World Heritage site for the Plain of Jars. The Lao-UNESCO Programme for "Safeguarding the Plain of Jars" has been an ongoing effort by UNESCO and the Lao government to document and rehabilitate the Plain of Jars. Clearing of the UXO hazards is one requirement before the sites can be studied and developed for tourism. Community-based involvement in the management and conservation of the jar sites has been one of the main objectives of the project and is proving to be success. Unfortunately, tourism pressure on the main visited sites is the main cause of recent damage to the stone jars.
A visitors centre has been opened in 13 August 2013. It is at the bottom of the hill 200m prior to the Plain of Jars Site 1. It contains good quality English language information panels on the history of the Plain of Jars culture, as well as its modern history during the 1964–1975 conflict. Today UNESCO, Helvetas, DED, the local government and villagers are working together to develop and protect the jar sites, while aiming to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status.
At the UXO-Visitor Information Centre in the centre of Phonsavan (opposite Craters restaurant) the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) informs about the UXOproblematic in the province. MAG began its Lao programme in 1994 and started the first internationally supported UXO clearance operation in Xieng Khouang. MAG works to help people to rebuild their lives and alleviates suffering by responding to the needs of conflict affected communities. Local staff has been training to clear away the brush, to use a metal detector and recognize ordance. Their village assisted clearance approach allows communities to participate in the process.
Next door is the UXO Survivor Information Centre run by the Xiengkhouang Quality of Life Association, a Lao non-profit-association (NGO) that is supported by various international foundations and donations from visitors. There is a comic exhibition about how people deal with a life with "bombs". The QLA helps people to recreate their livelihood after they have been injured by a bomb accident. The centre's staff are UXO survivors themselves and can be approached to explain about the life of UXO victims. Donations and shopping in the gift shop are highly welcome. The centre is associated with the ministry of health and rehabilitation.
The SOS orphanage in Xieng Khouang was founded 1998 to take care of the many children who lost their parents in accidents related to UXO. Today 145 children live in 12 family houses. The associated kindergarten and primary school are open to local children.
THE LEGEND
Laos legend tells us that the jars were created by a
race of giants, whose king needed somewhere to store his rice wine.
Others believe that they were placed there to collect monsoon rainwater. 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 (500 BCE to 500 CE) 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 organization of Iron Age Southeast Asia’s communities. To visit the jar
sites one would typically stay in Phonsavan. From the fact that most
of the jars have lip rims, it is presumed that all stone jars supported lids,
although few stone lids have been recorded; this may suggest that the bulk of
lids were fashioned from perishable materials. Stone lids with animal
representations have been noticed at few sites such as Ban Phakeo (Site 52).
The bas-relief animals are thought to be monkeys, tigers and frogs. No in situ
lid has ever been found.
Not to be confused with stone lids are the stone discs. The
stone discs have at least one flat side and are grave markers which were placed on the
surface to cover or mark a burial pit. These gravemarkers appear more
infrequently than stone jars, but are found in close proximity. Similar
are stone gravemarkers; these stones are unworked, but have been placed
intentionally to mark a grave.The jars lie in clusters on the lower footslopes and
mountain ridges of the hills surrounding the central plateau and upland
valleys. Several quarry sites have been recorded usually close to the jar
sites. Five rock types are known: sandstone, granite, conglomerate, limestone
and breccia. The majority of the jars are sandstone and have been
manufactured with a degree of knowledge of what materials and techniques were
suitable. It is assumed that Plain of Jars’ people used iron chisels to
manufacture the jars although no conclusive evidence for this exists.
Regional differences in jar shape have been noted. While these differences in
most cases can be attributed to choice and manipulation of rock source, form
differences, such as small apertures and apertures on both ends (double holed
jars) which would affect the use of the jar have been recorded in one district
only.
The Cave at Site 1 is a natural limestone cave with an
opening to the northwest and two man-made holes at the top of the
cave. These holes are interpreted as chimneys of the crematorium. French
geologist and amateur archaeologist Madeleine Colani excavated inside the cave
in the early 1930 and found archaeological material to support a centralized
crematorium theory. Colani also recorded and excavated at twelve Plain of Jars
sites and published two volumes with her findings in 1935. The material findings and context led her to the
interpretation of the Plain of Jars as an Iron Age burial site.
