BAN ANG, SITE#1
After a short climb you reach the top of the hill. You look out over a field of about 250 man-high, cylindrical jugs. Each jug is carved from one piece of rock, some are up to 3 meters high. Only when you get closer you will see the details: some weathered decorations, the depth of the jugs, the structure of granite and sandstone covered with lichens, fragments of what could be a lid. Questions arise, but the pitchers remain silent.
LOCAL LEGENDS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
According to a local legend, it concerns jugs in which lau hai – rice beer or rice wine – was brewed long ago, to celebrate the defeat of the enemy here. Another legend tells of commercial caravans, and a scarcity of drinking water in the region. The jugs were intended to store rainwater. Archaeologists give a different explanation. The pitchers were used for burial rituals 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, with the pitchers serving as grave graphene. How those urns are made, what the rituals looked like and why no human remains were found in the jars is something scientists can't give an unambiguous answer to.
MULTIPLE PITCHERS
In Xiangkhoung Province, more than 90 clusters of jugs have been identified. Only six of these locations can be visited. Tell local guides, but it's still a story full of question marks. Walk between the jugs and look, listen, fantasize. In mind, the mysterious plains of the jugs come to life.