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Mysterious, giant stone jars found in India

by Australian National University
Mar 30, 2022


Jars at Herakilo site. Credit: Tilok Thakuria

Mysterious giant jars that may have been used for burial rituals have been unearthed across four new sites in Assam, India. The discovery comes from a major collaboration involving researchers at The Australian National University (ANU).

The 65 newly discovered sandstone jars vary in shape and decoration, with some tall and cylindrical, and others partly or fully buried in the ground. Similar jars, some of which span up to three meters high and two meters wide, have previously been uncovered in Laos and Indonesia.  

"We still don't know who made the giant jars or where they lived. It's all a bit of a mystery," ANU Ph.D. student Nicholas Skopal said.  

Another mystery is what the giant jars were used for. The researchers believe it is likely they were associated with mortuary practices.  

"There are stories from the Naga people, the current ethnic groups in north-east India, of finding the Assam jars filled with cremated remains, beads and other material artifacts," Mr. Skopal said. This theory aligns with findings from the other jar sites in countries including Laos, which are also tied to burial rituals.  

Initially, the aim of the new research was to survey the existing sites in Assam. However, as the researchers moved about the landscape they realized there was more to be uncovered. "At the start the team just went in to survey three large sites that hadn't been formally surveyed. From there grids were set up to explore the surrounding densely forested regions," Mr. Skopal said. "This is when we first started finding new jar sites. The team only searched a very limited area so there are likely to be a lot more out there, we just don't yet know where they are."  

The surveying and reporting of these sites is of great importance in regards to heritage management in India.  

"It seems as though there aren't any living ethnic groups in India associated with the jars, which means there is an importance to maintain the cultural heritage," Mr. Skopal said. "The longer we take to find them, the greater chance that they will be destroyed, as more crops are planted in these areas and the forests are cut down."  

The researchers worked with local communities on the ground to uncover potential jar sites, often through areas of mountainous jungle that were difficult to navigate. 

"Once the sites have been recorded, it becomes easier for the government to work with the local communities to protect and maintain them so they are not being destroyed," Mr. Skopal said. 

The research was led by Tilok Thakuria, from North Eastern Hill University and Uttam Bathari, from Gauhati University.  

The study's findings are published in the Journal of Asian Archaeology.

quote:

there aren't any living ethnic groups in India associated with the jars

This is how money gets spent - to salvage and maintain the cultural heritage of completely unknown peoples. What culture? It's a blank slate.

They are preserving the culture of the "Stone Jaristas" - going any further is grave robbing, a highly lucrative scientific dodge to elevate the status of the lead anthropologist. It's a soft science and they don't have to adhere to "repeatable experimentation" or in some cases, even the rules of logic.

They basically invent social structures they control by their speculation over the meanings of pottery shards and bead trinkets. It's impossible to actually ask any of the descendants. There are none.

We have the same issues locally with the original Osage inhabitants of the Ozarks. Almost completely assimilated and no tribal identity because of it.

No mystery here........

Are they filled with black goo?

They could basically be the MRE trash left behind by 30 feet tall aliens who visited thousands of years ago…

It is a well known prank of Indian frat boys.

Ah yes, someday in the thousands of years from now, visitors from another solar system will find millions of strange, buried boxes containing remnants of humanoid rituals. Even stranger, they will also discover weird jars containing what looks like ashes from ritual campfires.

That is why I will be cremated and my ashes scattered in the woodlands where my youthful adventures were experienced. Ain't gonna be no future "scientific researching" poking amongst my remains. (Plus it saves the expense of buying an overpriced jar!) I guess it would be asking a little too much to request that my beloved Sig 239 also be scattered there, too?

Ancient prepper fail. I guess that answers the question how long can you store beans in a sealed jar.

quote:

Originally posted by sgalczyn:
No mystery here........

Are they filled with black goo?

LMAO

quote:

Originally posted by sgalczyn:
No mystery here........
Are they filled with black goo?

No sh*t, sgalczyn!!!

Aha! This is proof positive that all of India used to belong to Laotians! It's high time Laos invaded India to recover what is rightfully hers!

These guys kept their rum in the jars:

It is quite exiting for me reading this article, because my Mom is an Professor Emerita of the North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong, Meghalaya!!!!!
Now I have to do some research online in order to find out more about these jars found.
Thank you.
-Sid

quote:

"We still don't know who made the giant jars or where they lived. It's all a bit of a mystery," ANU Ph.D. student Nicholas Skopal said.

I'm going to take a wild guess here and surmise they lived pretty close to where those heavy stone objects were found. Unless they find evidence of neolithic pickup trucks, of course.