Advances in Lao Archaeology: Paper-Less Survey Helps Document Western Expression of the Plain of Jars Phenomenon

Joyce White 1*, Souliya Bounxaythip2, Nitixay Khamphoumy2, Kongkeo Phannasy3, Sengphone Keophanhya2, JB Lowe3, and Elizabeth Hamilton1

The Middle Mekong Archaeological Project (MMAP) is a multi-national collaborative research and capacity building program with a current regional focus in Luang Prabang Province, Laos. Previous research has demonstrated that the region saw continuous occupation from the late Pleistocene to the modern day. A premise of the research program is that the lengthy occupation may in part be a product of the fact that several tributaries debouch into the Mekong near to Luang Prabang city, and these tributaries drain from several important regions ranging from southern China to the Tran Ninh Plateau where most Plain of Jars sites are found. A crossroads phenomenon may account for the enduring attraction of this region for human settlement. Previous MMAP surveys have documented more than 100 sites on the left side of the Mekong. Four cave/rockshelter sites have had test excavations. The 2025- 2026 training and survey season documented sites including some with attributes linking them to the greater Plain of Jars Phenomenon, including possible links to the Hua Phan megalithic variant. Our paperless mobile GIS methodology, now using tablet recording, facilitates rapid systematic reconnaissance methodology to attain a regional snapshot which also helps with decision making for selecting sites for excavation. This paper will emphasize some results from the 2025-2026 survey that documented distinctive aspects of the western reach of the Plain of Jars phenomenon falling within Luang Prabang Province.