Researchers have unearthed which they believe might have been used for burial rituals.
Around 65 sandstone jars were found scattered over four sites in the north-eastern state of Assam. 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 were earlier discovered in Laos and Indonesia, some of which three meters high and two meters wide, have previously been uncovered in Laos and Indonesia.
The research was led by Tilok Thakuria, from North Eastern Hill University and Uttam Bathari, from Gauhati University, with a major collaboration involving researchers at the Australian National University (ANU).
“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.
There is a theory that these jars were used for burials. “There are stories from the Naga people of finding the jars filled with cremated remains, beads and other material artifacts,” Skopal shared.
The researchers initially aimed to do the new research by surveying the existing sites in Assam. However, when they 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,” he shared.
“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,” he said.
The study’s findings are published in the Journal of Asian Archaeology.
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