Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities The Key
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Mar 12, 2026 A journey to the mysterious Plain of Jars and the century-old investigations into their purpose. A look at wartime dangers and modern preservation limiting access. An ecological tale from Yellowstone about missing predators and the cascade of effects from elk overpopulation. The dramatic return of wolves and the landscape's recovery afterward.
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Madeleine Colani's Discovery Of The Plain Of Jars
- The Plain of Jars are massive stone vessels up to three meters tall scattered across a Laotian plateau and studied first by Madeleine Colani in the 1920s.
- Colani excavated, mapped, found charred human remains in nearby caves, and proposed the jars were funerary urns used from the Iron Age to about 700 years ago.
Modern Science Confirms Ancient Ritual Use
- Modern techniques like GPS mapping and Optically Stimulated Luminescence place many jars in the Iron Age and confirm long-term ritual use over millennia.
- Carbon dating shows the sites remained in use until around 700 years ago, supporting Colani's funeral-urn theory.
War Left The Jars Hidden Under Dangerous Soil
- The Plain of Jars is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site but remains sparsely visited because unexploded cluster munitions from the Vietnam War make the terrain dangerous.
- Removal of tens of millions of UXOs is a multi-decade effort, so guided paths and limited tours are used to protect visitors and artifacts.
