Tam Pà Ling, a cave located in the northern region of Laos, unveils new insights into the earliest human migrations from Africa all the way to Australia. What links a fossil discovered in a northern Laotian cave to ancient stone tools from northern Australia? It's us, Homo sapiens. As our forebea
Scientists Return to Plain of Jars in Laos
Monday, April 19, 2021
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA According to a statement released by the University of Melbourne, a team of Lao and Australian researchers led by Thonglith Luangkhoth of the Laos Department of Heritage, and Louise Shewan and Dougald O’Reilly of the University of Melbourne, has uncovered additional human burials on the Plain of Jars in northern Laos. The Plain of Jars is known for its more than 2,000 large carved stone jars standing up to 80 feet tall. The researchers confirmed that quartz-rich boulders at Site 1 on the Plain of Jars, which is called Ban Hai Hin, were used as place markers for ceramic burial jars placed underground between the eighth and thirteenth centuries A.D. The skeletal remains of infants and children were recovered from these jars during further investigations at the Xieng Khouang Museum. The team also found human remains next to jars at Site 1. Analysis of samples of Site 1’s stone jars and st