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Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang – Plain of Jars (Lao People's

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Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang – Plain of Jars (Lao People's An ICOMOS technical evaluation mission visited the property from 21 to 30 October 2018. Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang – Plain of Jars Additional information received by ICOMOS A letter was sent to the State Party on 9 October 2018 (Lao People’s Democratic Republic) requesting further information about the selection of No 1587 components, disaster risk management, Heritage Impact Assessment, proposed developments, community awareness and involvement, interpretation of the Jar sites, tourism management plan and monitoring. Official name as proposed by the State Party An Interim Report was provided to the State Party in Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang – Plain of Jars December 2018 summarising the issues identified by the ICOMOS World Heritage Panel. Further information was Location requested in the Interim Report including: selection of Xiengkhuang Province components, management system, future development Lao People’s Democratic Republic plans (particularly at site 1), research and interpretation strategies, corrections to site maps, and UXO clearance. Brief description More than 2100 tubular-shaped megalithic stone jars used Additional information was received from the State Party on for funerary practices in the Iron Age give the Plain of Jars 7 November 2018 and 22 February 2019, and has been its name. This serial property of 15 components contains incorporated into the relevant sections of this evaluation 1325 of these large carved stone jars, stone discs (grave report. markers, or lids for the jars), secondary burials, grave markers, quarries, manufacturing sites, grave goods and Date of ICOMOS approval of this report other archaeological materials and features. The jars are 13 March 2019 large, well-crafted, and require technological skill to produce and move from the quarry locations to the funerary sites. Located on hill slopes and spurs surrounding the 2 Description of the property central plateau, the jars and associated elements are the most prominent and intriguing evidence of the Iron Age Note: The nomination dossier and additional information contain civilisation that made and used them, about which little is detailed descriptions of this property, its history and its state of known. The sites are dated from between 500 BCE and 500 conservation. Due to limitations on the length of evaluation CE (and possibly up to as late as 800 CE). The Plain of Jars reports, this report only provides a short summary of the most is located at an historical crossroads between two major relevant aspects. cultural systems of Iron Age southeast Asia – the Mun- Mekong system and the Red River/Gulf of Tonkin system. Description and history Because the area is one that facilitated movement through The Plain of Jars is located on a plateau in Central Laos, the region, enabling trade and cultural exchange, the and takes its name from the presence of more than 2100 distribution of the jars sites is thought to be potentially megalithic stone jars that date from the Iron Age. The associated with overland routes, and demonstrate social nominated property comprises 15 components that contain hierarchies. 1325 of these large stone jars and associated other elements (stone discs, secondary burials, grave markers, Category of property quarries, manufacturing sites, grave goods and other In terms of categories of cultural property set out in Article I archaeological materials). The jars are tubular in shape, of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, this is a serial have various rim styles, and range in size from 1 to 3 nomination of 15 sites. metres. The jars are associated with mortuary practices, and are thought to reflect funerary practices of elites. They are the most prominent and intriguing evidence of the Iron Age civilisation that made and used them, and have been 1 Basic data dated from between 500 BCE and 500 CE (and possibly up to as late as 800 CE). The State Party considers that the Included in the Tentative List jars are evidence of a widespread culture that existed in the 25 March 1992 region – a civilisation about which relatively little is known. Sites Mégalithiques de la province de Xieng Khouang Located on hill slopes and spurs surrounding the central Background plateau, the jars are mostly made from carved sandstone This is a new nomination. (although other stone types are also found such as granite, limestone, conglomerate and breccia). While the jars are Consultations and Technical Evaluation Mission mostly undecorated (other than one jar with a distinctive Desk reviews have been provided by ICOMOS ‘frogman’ motif), the stone discs (thought to be grave International Scientific Committees, members and markers or lids for the jars) can include carvings with animal independent experts. 156 or anthropomorphic figures, concentric circles, circular researcher Madeleine Colani, who suggested that the mouldings or a central knob or loop. The jars are very large, locations of the jars were linked to ancient trade routes, and well-crafted, requiring technological skill to produce particularly for salt. Iron ore is also a valuable historical and move from the quarry locations to the funerary sites. In resource which is present in Xiengkhuang. most cases, quarry sites are located near to the locations of the jars, and the stages of manufacturing can be Dating from 2016, excavations found that secondary discerned. Human remains have been found inside and burials date to the period 900-1200 CE; and there is buried around the stone jars. There are no discernible evidence of human occupation and activity within the patterns of placement of the jars within the sites. nominated property up to the 18th century. Laos came under the control of France in 1887; and Xiengkhuang and The larger jars sites contain a number of archaeological the kingdom of Vientiane fell under the control of Luang features and demonstrate several burial traditions. Site 1 is Prabang in 1941 as French control waned due to Japanese the most extensive in this regard and has been subject to expansion. The Plain of Jars was heavily affected by the most archaeological research. It has terracotta jars bombing and other damage (trenches, foxholes, anti- associated with secondary burials, stone jars with human aircraft positions and tank scrapes) during the Second remains and glass beads, a cave that possibly functioned Indochina War (1965-1975). Many of the jars within the as a crematorium, and pit burials with various artefacts. Site nominated components show damage caused by bombing, 21 is associated with Site 1 and is the largest quarry site, and there is unexploded ordnance throughout the area; but containing in situ evidence of each step of the quarrying there are also locally significant historic sites associated process. with this history, such as trenches and tunnels. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic was established in Within the Plain of Jars, there are 2107 known megalithic December 1975. jars (finished and unfinished), 207 discs and 672 grave markers clustered in 59 surveyed sites within Boundaries Xiengkhuang. There are a further 26 sites known that are The nominated property of 15 components has a total yet to be surveyed, and it is likely there will be additional area of 173.56 ha, with 10 buffer zones totalling 1,012.94 jars and associated sites found. ha. The boundaries have been shaped by the protective designations. The buffer zone boundaries have been From this larger assemblage, 11 sites within 15 drawn in order to control development in the vicinity of the components have been selected, containing 1325 jars. selected components. The major jar sites are at sites 1, 2, 3, 42 and 52 (site 3 is presented as 5 separate components). Sites 8 and 21 are A number of the components are fenced, and efforts have quarry sites, site 12 is a manufacturing site. Sites 25 and been made to establish boundary markers. 28 are located on the northern-most and western-most ends of the series (respectively), and Site 28 has a single There are no occupants within the nominated very large jar impressively located at the top of a hill. components; and 24 residents within the buffer zone for Some of the sites have jars made of different materials, site 1. The State Party has indicated an intention to such as Sites 23 (sedimentary breccia) and 25 (andesite). relocate these residents to outside the buffer zone. The State Party has explained that the sites have been selected to include both large and small sites with jars, as State of conservation well as manufacturing and quarrying sites in order to The State Party has surveyed the condition of the jars and provide a comprehensive basis for future research on other elements within most of the nominated components, population distributions and the geographical finding that 31% of the jars are intact (and 69% were associations with ancient trade routes. The selected broken); and 20% of the discs were intact (and 80% were components contain one or more clusters, each of which broken). The archaeological deposits are considered to includes from one to more than 400 jars. The nominated be largely intact, with few serious pressures. components cover a large area that spans up to 80 km (west to east) and 40 km (north to south). While the State Party considers that the state of conservation of the nominated property is generally good, Relatively little is understood about the prehistory of Laos. ICOMOS considers that the state of conservation is It may be that Xiengkhuang was part of a Lao kingdom variable across the nominated components, based on the known as Khottaboun (from approximately 1000 BCE to information provided by the State Party and the 979 CE), and that it was incorporated into the Lan Xang observations of the ICOMOS technical evaluation Kingdom in the mid-14th century. The Plain of Jars is mission.
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