Plain of Jars Site 3

Site 3 (Ban Xiengdi) is one of the megalithic jar sites on the Plain of Jars in Xiengkhuang Province, Laos, part of a UNESCO World Heritage serial property. The site contains 242 stone jars and 41 stone discs distributed across seven groups, with the largest cluster holding 158 jars. Dating from approximately 500 BCE to 500 CE, the jars are hewn from sandstone quarried at nearby Site 8. Madeleine Colani's 1935 excavations uncovered ceramic sherds, glass beads, iron fragments, human bones, and small Buddha statues inside a cracked jar, indicating sustained ritual significance.