Secondary jar burial discovered in Laos

The Earth Times reports that the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project has discovered the first instance of a secondary burial in Laos. Read detail accounts of the recent fieldwork in Laos on the MMAP blog.

Iron Age discovery uncovers prehistoric burial customs in Laos
The Earth Times, 22 January 2009

The discovery of Iron Age human bone fragments in Laos has shed new light on the region’s prehistoric burial customs, state media reports said Friday. A team of Lao and foreign archeologists foundthe fragments last week in a burial ground believed to be about 2,000 years old when South-East Asia was in the Iron Age, the Vientiane Times reported.

The discovery was made during a dig known as the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project, which is a joint effort between Laos’ Department of Heritage and the University of Pennsylvania Museum in the United States.

“Last week, we unexpectedly found two skulls and a fragment of a third, a baby, along with some body bones,” said Joyce White, associate curator at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. “It is quite a significant discovery of Lao archaeology.”