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''The Megaliths of Upper Laos'' (orig. French: ''Les Megaliths du Haut Laos'') is a 1930 work of
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
by
Madeleine Colani Madeleine Colani (August 13, 1866 – June 2, 1943) was a French archaeologist from the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient. Colani was "a pioneering fieldworker who combined the roles of geologist, paleobotanist, archeologist, and ethnographer." ...
, examining and cataloging approximately ten thousand
megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...
s in Upper Laos.Ben Hills
"Crack open the jars"
''Sydney Morning Herald'', Oct. 7, 2008.
Prior to Colani's work, the megaliths were considered among the more mysterious megaliths.Elisabeth Eaves

''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', July 15, 2012.
Colani, after reviewing the
Plain of Jars The Plain of Jars ( Lao: ທົ່ງໄຫຫິນ ''Thong Hai Hin'', ) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. It consists of thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of ...
for decades, cataloged the megaliths and argued "convincingly" in ''The Megaliths of Upper Laos'' that they were
urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
s, used in
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
funerary rites A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
.Russell Ciochon and Jamie James
"Laos Keeps Its Urns"
, Ciochon's Bioanthropology Website, University of Iowa (last visited July 16, 2012).
''The Megaliths of Upper Laos'', a two-volume, 600-page work that both cataloged and described the artifacts, and presented Colani's theories as to their origin and use, has been described as Colani's "great contribution to archaeological literature". The book brought the megaliths to the broader attention of the Western public and scholarly community.


Notes

1930 non-fiction books Archaeology books Books about Laos Megalithic monuments Burial monuments and structures Archaeology of Laos {{laos-stub