Jars of field - the most dangerous archaeological site in the world

Canh Dong Chum, Xieng Khouang province (Laos) is one of the places that suffered many fierce American bombs in the war; is still one of the most dangerous archaeological sites in the world.

The archaeological site has many forbidden seas

Departure from the underground bus station, after an 18-hour journey, including the time for customs clearance at Nam Can border gate, at exactly 12 noon we are in Xieng Khouang, Laos. Plain of Jars

During the Vietnam War, Canh Dong Chum was mentioned as a special place to refer to the Xieng Khoang plateau, not only the relic area containing thousands of ancient jars; where Vang Pao was appointed chief of the province of Xieng Khoang during the period of neutral government of Laos.

From Phonesavanh, the capital of Xieng Khoang, taking tuk tuk for 45,000 kip (about 115,000 VND) for a 7km distance to a jars of rice is one of three places to visit.

The panoramic view of the Chum field, the No. 1 area seen from above.

The Plain of Jars consists of three regions, during the war, this is one of the places that suffered from fierce American bombs and is still one of the most dangerous archaeological sites in the world.

Visitors can visit the three locations with MAG guidelines (Mines Advisory Group). However, there are still tourists who do not follow or ignore the milestones and sometimes casualties still occur.

Some people in our group were engrossed in photography forgetting MAG's red-and-white double safety milestones, walking out of the safe area for meters while not receiving the necessary reminders. Come on.

Mysterious fields

There are many legends about Chum fields, but archaeologists believe that these jars date from 1,500 to 2,000 years, and still have many mysteries among people of the Mon-Khmer group whose culture today.

In some excavations, the discovery of remains and ashes here made some anthropologists and archaeologists think that these jars may have been used to contain the remains and belongings of the deceased. customs of an ancient Laotian people is the Puon people, or containing food.

Meanwhile some legendary stories of Laotian people say that there are giants who once settled in this area. And according to one of the most famous legends and most mentioned by tourists and indigenous peoples, the ancient king named Khun Cheung created the jars for fermentation and contained a large amount of jasmine rice. to celebrate the victory after he defeated the enemy.

In Chum field one has two large areas that can admire the stone jars, glaze along the gate about 3-400 m sloping up a hill that is the place where the largest jars with a diameter of 2.5 m high 2.57 m heavy tons.

This location can be seen down to where hundreds of ancient sized jars are similar and especially have a single jar with a lid that has been partially broken.

On the hills full of weeds have been burned and sporadic and clusters of jars of several or three hidden under trees.

Here are some pictures of jars:

The legend of stone jars is that these are wine brewing bottles that the ancient king Khun Cheung used to win after the triumph. However, archaeologists leaned on the theory that the Jars of the Jars were a huge cemetery, each of which was a jar used to bury a corpse. Meanwhile Soulivan Vincent, the Frenchman, the hotel owner in Phonesavanh - who had lived in Xieng Khoang for many years - said that the area of ​​the Jars of the Past could be a place to transfer goods from the places where they came from. Large jars can be used to store rice, salt or other goods. Vincent argues: 'Xieng Khou is right at the junction of Central Laos, wanting to go to Luong Prabang or Viientiane to stop here.'

Also during the years of fierce bombing, tens of thousands of Vietnamese soldiers and Laotian troops fell into this land. Not far from the Chum field in Ban Ang, Vietnamese children who come to Phonesavanh need to go to the Vietnam-Laos War Memorial.

Spanning several hundred meters, along the hillside, nearly 400 large and small ancient stone jars of all sizes scattered. Nobody knows how they are made, lie there and what they are used for.

Nearly 2,000 jars stood alone or stood in groups scattered in 50 locations in Xieng Khouang province, with a shape of 1-3m in height and 1-3m in diameter. Their shape is also atypical. The knuckles, the straight mouth, the square, the back like a melon . Touching the lumpy stones, the green 'mold' is lying quietly on the ground, people vaguely feel The great historical mysteries it contains.

Archaeologists agree that these jars are related to burial tombs, but are not agreed on their dates. Previously, scientists estimated the chum's date from 500 BC to 500, but recent calculations suggest that they date from the 9th to the 10th century.

"Only after the fields were removed and it took many years, did archaeologists be able to freely research and give words," said MAG's Julie Van Den Bergh. answer the questions correctly: who do the jars, when and why.

The cluster of jars on the top of the hill right at the entrance has different shapes. Over time and war, many jars were not intact and ramshackle. The largest is 2.5 m in diameter and 2.57 m high, weighs in tons. The smallest is just the size of a hug. Most of the jars without a lid are of a round square shape, none of which are the same.

A Lao monk visits the jars of rice. Many years ago, the indigenous people still did not know the value of ancient jars. Many transporters jogged home to store things or simply to . plant flowers. Only after the relevant authority issued the appeal, did the people know the great cultural value of the jars and brought it back to its original location. Currently, the Chum field is researched and surveyed by experts of the UNESCO Organization, marking all the jars to become a world cultural heritage - a stone heritage in Indochina.