Xieng Khouang plain of jars has about 52 locations with more than 2,000 jars of different size. They are mainly located in three villages: Ang, Latsen, Sua. Among them, Ang village is mostly noticed for the number of 334 jars. The biggest jar has the diameter of 2.5m and 2.57 m high. Its weight could be tons. The smallest one is about an embrace. Most of the jars has no cover with different kinds of shape: square and round which is different with other jars.
Xieng Khoang is a province in the East North of Laos where the Truong Son range – border of Vietnam and Laos – began. Its area is 15,880km2. Its population is 262,000 people (2004). The average density is 17 people /km2. The height is 1200m above sea level. The weather here is cool with many high mountains. Xieng Khouang has seven districts. People here are from Thai, Hmong, Dao, and some Viet. Its argriculture is mainly water paddy, terraced field, castle raising, etc.
Pain of Jars (Laos: Thoong Hayhin) is located in the Xieng Khouang Plateau (25-30km from Phonesavanh) with the date of 2500 to 3000 years. There is lots of legend about plain of jars, which is not clear until now.
In 1930, Ms. Madelene Colani is a French archeologist who came to this plain. In the work of Mégalithes du Haunt – Laos, Ms. Colani wrote: “The age of these 334 jars are about 2.500 to 3.000. These are not the jars to keep wine because there is not any evidence of that.” Until discovered the earthen pot that contains skull and bone of human, Colani affirmed that: “Jars are the objects to contain relics (clothes, tools, axe, bow, and sword) of Puon people (one of the three ancient Laos people) after their death according to this clan’s customs.
Plain of jar is the most dangerous archeologic place in the world. In the wartime of 1964-1973, American troops have dropped thousands of tons of bombs and mine. There are still many guests being hurt when they did not follow the instruction of going. Each person in this land suffers from 350 tons of bomb averagely. The biggest number of bomb is bomb with high destruction power. There are still bomb hole with the diameter of 10m and 4m deep. The second biggest number of bomb is fragmentation bomb in the shape of guava that is most dangerous in antipersonnel weapons. The other types of bombs and mines are not extricated until now.
Coming to plain of jar in Xieng Khouang, you, me and everybody would have chance to be nurtured in the giant jars which could not be found everywhere in the world, and enjoying the highland air of cool Xieng Khouang.
