Laos Jars Unsolved Mystery

THONG HAI HIN, Laos — The first time Sousath Phetrasy saw the huge stone
jars
scattered in a grassy field, he was entranced. Carefully avoiding old unexploded
bombs in the ground, the Laotian businessman walked among hundreds of the ancient,
lichen-covered containers, each one large enough to hold a person. The biggest
weighed more than 6 tons.

Perhaps 2,000 years old, the relics on the plateau known as the Plain
of Jars are one of the oldest — and unexplained — archeological wonders
of Southeast Asia. They have survived looters, the elements, and American
bombs, but for decades were largely forgotten in the chaos and conflict
that swept Laos.

Archeologists say there are thousands of jars in this part of northern
Laos. Experts believe that the urns were used in burial rituals, but
they know little about the people who made them.

from the Boston Globe