A Discovered Trove of Bones and Teeth Yields New Clues to the Century-Old Mystery of 'Death Jars' in Laos

Scientists found bones of 37 people inside a giant stone jar at one of Southeast Asia’s most puzzling archaeological sites. The find suggests a multigenerational burial practice.

A Discovered Trove of Bones and Teeth Yields New Clues to the Century-Old Mystery of 'Death Jars' in Laos. Scientists found bones of 37 people inside a giant stone jar at one of Southeast Asia’s most puzzling archaeological sites. The find suggests a multigenerational burial practice. The Plain of Jars is an archaeological site with thousands of stone jars in Laos. Archaeologists in Laos discovered the remains of at least 37 human skeletons packed inside a centuries-old stone jar, shedding new light on one of the most mysterious burial sites in the world. The “Plain of Jars” is home to collections of thousands of tube-shaped jars that have long intrigued archaeologists. Most of the stone artifacts stand several feet tall and were presumed to be evidence of an Iron Age civilization. Leading hypotheses about the jars’ utility all point to s...