PLAIN OF JARS TO BECOME LAOS’ THIRD WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Photo: Vientiane Times

Lao PDR has received confirmation that the Plain of Jars will be inscribed as a World Heritage Site later this year. Look out of the official announcement in July!

Laos has been working for 20 years to have the Plain of Jars, known locally as Thong Hai Hin, listed as a World Heritage Site. When UNESCO announces the site’s inscription, it will be the third such site in Laos.

Director General of the Heritage Department, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism Thongbay Phothisane, said on Facebook on May 14 that Thong Hai Hin has been accepted as a World Heritage Site and its listing is expected to be officially announced at the The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting in Azerbaijan.

The Plain of Jars World Heritage proposal involves 11 separate places where the ancient stone jars are located in the province’s districts of Paek, Phaxay, Phoukoud and Kham.

The mysterious jars were carved from sandstone and granite, and their size ranges from very small to about 3.5 metres in height. They are thought to be more than 2,000 years old.

The Plain of Jars comprises about 80 distinct sites but only 11 are included in the listed area as they have the highest concentration of stone jars.

Read the full article at Southeast Asian Archeology: https://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/2019/05/28/plain-of-jars-to-become-laos-third-world-heritage-site/?fbclid=IwAR1-jmR3vKMmC_DINP_qWN5oalgrjMN_Xq2_RfCuTqEx1z5YSDiaVowSmz4
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