Secondary burial practice at megalithic jar site 1, Plain of Jars Laos

In 2020 a Lao/Australian archaeological research team revisited one of the largest megalithic jar sites in Laos, Site 1, and undertook excavations in an effort to more fully understand the ritual practice at the site. This paper reviews previous research undertaken at the site and describes the recent excavation which revealed evidence of secondary burial practice dating to the 8th to thirteenth centuries. The research confirms the use of Site 1 as a burial site where multiple individuals were interred in secondary burials in shared mortuary contexts

Ancient copper mining in Laos: heterarchies, incipient states or post-state anarchists

In early 2009 the remains of wooden structures supporting ancient mining shafts were discovered during modern-day industrial copper mining in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Subsequent 'rapid-response' archaeological excavations within the Khanong A2 mining pit revealed over 130 tightly clustered vertical shafts measuring between 1.5 and 2.5m in diameter, and dating to around 2000 BP. A long-term conservation process was begun in order to preserve the rare wooden finds. In 2012 a second site with preserved wooden structures was revealed. Comparing these two sites and discussing them in relation to other sites discovered within the modern mining tenement, and in the wider Southeast Asian context, allows us to investigate the social context of mining in prehistoric Southeast Asia. The central question is whether local mining in Vilabouly is an example of complex industry and exchange relationships developed outside of traditional models of hierarchical social structures

Karst development, breccias history, and mammalian assemblages in Southeast Asia: A brief review

International audienc

Reply to Pierret et al. : stratigraphic and dating consistency reinforces the status of Tam Pa Ling fossil

International audienc

Technological reconstruction of the late prehistoric primary copper production of the Vilabouly Complex (central Laos)

The late prehistoric copper production site of the Vilabouly Complex in central Laos delivered different types of materials that seem to be related to the copper chaine oppératoire for two main sites, Puen Baolo and Thong Na Nguak: minerals, slags and crucible fragments. A selection of these artefacts were analyzed (OM, SEM–EDS, XRD, bulk analyses) to study the extraction techniques, raw materials used and the different steps of production at Vilabouly. The various analytical datasets enabled us to propose a technological reconstruction, ranging from the extraction of minerals, smelting and casting. The results suggest a production dedicated to unalloyed copper with a crucible-based reaction in a one-step smelting process, a charge mainly composed of malachite and occasionally a mixture of ores (most likely malachite/chalcocite), depending on the mineralization being exploited. Slag analysis and lead isotope data show variation in the raw materials used at Puen Baolo and Thong Na Nguak linked to different mineralization zones which may also suggest different settlements/artisans and/or different exploitation periods

Technological reconstruction of the late prehistoric primary copper production of the Vilabouly Complex (central Laos)

International audienceThe late prehistoric copper production site of the Vilabouly Complex in central Laos delivered different types of materials that seem to be related to the copper chaine oppératoire for two main sites, Puen Baolo and Thong Na Nguak: minerals, slags and crucible fragments. A selection of these artefacts were analyzed (OM, SEM–EDS, XRD, bulk analyses) to study the extraction techniques, raw materials used and the different steps of production at Vilabouly. The various analytical datasets enabled us to propose a technological reconstruction, ranging from the extraction of minerals, smelting and casting. The results suggest a production dedicated to unalloyed copper with a crucible-based reaction in a one-step smelting process, a charge mainly composed of malachite and occasionally a mixture of ores (most likely malachite/chalcocite), depending on the mineralization being exploited. Slag analysis and lead isotope data show variation in the raw materials used at Puen Baolo and Thong Na Nguak linked to different mineralization zones which may also suggest different settlements/artisans and/or different exploitation periods

Extracting, smelting and exchanging copper at the Vilabouly Complex (Laos)

International audienc

Tam Hang Rockshelter: Preliminary Study of a Prehistoric Site in Northern Laos

In February 1934, Jacques Fromaget, from the Geological Service of Indochina, discovered the Tam Hang site in northern Laos. The site is a rockshelter, located on the southeastern slope of the Annamitic Chain on the edge of the P’a Hang cliff. The geologist’s excavation revealed considerable faunal remains from the middle Pleistocene as well as human biological and cultural remains from the pre-Holocene period. One of the human skeletons discovered by Fromaget buried beneath the shelter has recently been radiocarbon-dated to 15,740G80 b.p. After being relocated by Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy, an international team carried out new excavations in April 2003. Undisturbed cultural layers from the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene have been identified. The presence of pottery and a lithic industry suggests the use of the site from at least the late Pleistocene into the Holocene. This particularity confers on the site a character rarely found in mainland Southeast Asia. This preliminary study describes the 2003 excavation, the cultural elements found, and presents the historical and archaeological significance of the site in the international context of the quest for human origins that prevailed in the 1930s