During the heavy bombardment of the late 1960's the local population was reduced to living in caves

Huge, mysterious stone jars are scattered in several groups on the high plains surrounding Phonsavan in northern Laos. Both the origin and purpose of these strange artifacts remain unknown. Their age is commonly estimated at 2000 years but erosion of the stone suggests they may be much more ancient; it has not yet been possible to date them accurately. Most of the remaining jars weigh between 1/2 and 1 ton; the largest is estimated to weigh six tons.

During the Vietnamese civil war this part of Laos was heavily damaged by both the North Vietnamese Army (who claimed they weren't there) and the U.S. Air Force (who claimed they weren't bombing them). During the heavy bombardment of the late 1960's the local population was reduced to living in caves; the Plain of Jars is still pockmarked with huge bomb craters. The entire region is still unsafe due to massive quantities of unexploded ordinance which still litters the province.

This photograph is available as an 11x16" signed print, archivally mounted and matted or archivally framed in black metal.

Mounted size is 17"x22" (43x56 cm).

http://www.lostworldarts.com/asia/new_page_105.htm

Maybe they were carved in situ as cisterns.

I'm guessing the cistern explanation is most likely.

Were these 'family' cisterns? Is this an 'eggs/basket' thing?

Would one large cistern for the whole community have been a conspicuous target, with the smaller ones too small to target accurately with existing technology at the time?

(I agree, they look like they could be above-ground cisterns. But again- why so many, and so small?)

and not the fuckin trash the U.S. left behind, that's why I posted it

are a commonplace. Mysterious stone jars of that size are much more intriguing. We all know how the bombs got there. What about the jars?

You cut'n'pasted 2 paragraphs and 3 pictures of giant cisterns, and since you didn't leave a comment it was obvious which paragraph you wanted to be a subject for discussion.

the fuckin title of the OP

God's way of teaching geography to Americans by using war. :sarcasm:

an answer. 2000 years is not that great a span in archeological time.

The remaining explosives are a disgrace. We, the U.S., should be paying to have the unexploded ordnance located and exploded on site. Once again we leave a legacy of death and destruction in our imperial wake. And we are still not signatories to the banning of cluster bombs.

How we can ever claim moral authority is beyond me.