Lets talk about a "A thesis with tourist intentions"...

 

Phonsavan is a spacious, scattered settlement situated at 1100 metres above sea level, in a high valley of the Annam Coastal Cordillera. The intersection point of historical caravan routes between the Northern Thai kingdoms, the Mekong Valley and the Khorat Plateau, with excellent connections to Yunnan in southern China and Vinh in Vietnam on the Gulf of Tonkin.

Here, in a largely treeless landscape is located the “Plaine des Jarres”. Mostly in rows along slopes sometimes in unsorted clusters, thousands of stone pots made from different materials like basalt and granite are spread over the region. Many explanations and legends surround the vessels of varying size. Because organic material was found only as a kind of later added (second use) content without original relation to the jars, no accurate dating could be done. Similarly it was not possible to detect a relationship between production time and purpose of the equipment. No intensive research was carried out because the region had remained unsafe over long periods of the 20 century. Rebellions and robberies by the Hmong, a hill tribe settled in the surrounding mountains and demanding its independence, prevented a more intensive investigation or development of the region. Even in the 1930’ies only about 600 people of European origin, with French citizenship where reported in the whole territory of present-day Laos. There was simply not enough available staff to carry out careful studies of an early culture in the barely tapped, and often inaccessible upland of the Annam Coastal Cordillera. The Second World War proved a further interruption to development and exploration efforts. The various political upheavals in Indochina following the wars ensured that the “Plain de Jars” remained an unattainable research area up to the mid-seventies. The situation did not improve with the victory of Communist forces in the region, for now the area was highly contaminated with mines and unexploded ordinance and another conflict soon developed between two old rivals - both the victorious communist-socialist fractions and the remaining proponents of the Hmong resistance. Only when the bamboo curtain became disrupted by the demise of the communist powers did an opening arise, which initiated a little scientific work but this mostly had at a tourist echo. The victorious capitalism had better things to do than to fund research about the background of early stone carvings. In the region, the number of undeveloped sites is significantly greater than a first look might suggest. Large capacities of workers and time are necessary to explore those which might still exist – because a lot of jars were stolen over the preceding years by collectors or vendors. Thus, in the years after the fall of the Bamboo Curtain, the Plain of Jars became, the domain of mystery seekers.

 

Meanwhile, the region has again become the focus of economic interest. After the tourists arrived the geologists came - and discovered that the rulers of the province were sitting on a huge treasure chest - probably without knowing it. Phonsavan - as a map of the ASEAN Development Bank shows – is surrounded by a mineral belt.

 

The possible Mineral Deposits of Laos from another source: (seem to be Department of Geology but seen also at ADB) Department of Geology (DOG) (2009) Geological Strategy Development Plan in 2008 – 2010 and 2011 – 2020 (in Lao). Vientiane: Department of Geology, Ministry of Energy and Mines. Unpublished – found in Documents of the Japanese Government

www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Download/Brc/pdf/02_ch3.pdf

 

In order to exploit this an industry becomes established in a very hectic way. One gets the impression of a Lao gold rush: which is rather ironic in light of the humorous translation of Lao PDR’s name – “please don’t rush”.  Like in any other region of the world attempts were made to keep the exploration projects secret – but they are not a secret anymore. Although there is one of the large-scale structures, an Australian company working successfully in gold mining midst of the neighboring, former "Saisomboun Special Zone", an area where until recently Hmong rebels were allegedly rehearsing riots, otherwise, the mostly smaller looking mining activities are driven by Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese players to a maximum, as a way of petitioning for mining concessions in government statistics. But just as a first cursory look doesn’t tell the truth about the – apparently – poor country, the image of an economic structure dominated by small craft companies is incorrect too. Big groups have applied to explore the treasures of plain of jars again and are preparing for much bigger business. However, the accelerated development of a rail project through Laos, from Kunming in China to Nong Kai in Thailand, and the Thai planning for the expansion of their national rail network will provide a thought-provoking insight, even for a distant observer. What interest should the major players in the power politics of the region have in a fast rail link to Thailand? Particularly surprising is that the railway will pass through the heart of one of the most inaccessible and difficult to traverse mountainous regions in Southeast Asia. Rumors that Thai SRT will convert its rail network to standard gauge and extend the rail link to the industrial areas and the port of Rayong support the hypothesis that the Chinese giant's hunger for raw materials is now focussed upon possibly one of the oldest mining regions in the world.

 

This seems to be exactly what is happening with Phonsavan, namely the area to be discovered. If one views the now abundant mineral resources along with a few other facts in relation to this, then one can draw conclusions.

 

In the context of Phonsavan there were a number of historical cultures whose existence we know of today, especially through received bronze works. In the south, there is the Bronze Age UNESCO World Heritage site of Ban Chiang. In the north (present-day Yunnan) the early Chinese Dian Kingdom developed a great skill in bronze working. To the west, we find in the Thai central plain, different principalities, which were ultimately brought into connection with the Mon kingdoms. Meanwhile in the Gulf of Tonkin was located the culture of the Cham, and further south the Kingdom of Funan and later also the Khmer.

 

The historic principality of Xieng Khouang shows itself to be a center of a cultural circle…

•      Ban Chiang

•      Mon (Lopburi)

•      Champa (Vietnam)

•      Dian

•      Lanna

•      Khmer

•      Sukhothai

…the historic heart of GMS…

 

•       However, there are seemingly very few copper deposits in the areas of these cultures, which could explain the existence of a highly developed bronze-processing culture. The raw material must therefore have been obtained from a point where it was to be found on the Earth's surface or at least near the surface and thus easily extractable, as a high quality arch or maybe as pure copper or malachite. A review of the geological maps reveals a situation that might confirm those conditions to be true in the highlands around the time of the creation of Phonsavan stone jars. The mountainous area around what is now the provincial capital is largely deforested. Most Plain of Jars visitors trace this back to the immense power of the bomb attacks during the Second Indochina War, but the back deforestation extends far beyond the former war zone. Also, at that altitude rapid growth of domestic upland trees would have been unhindered, as is shown by the numerous pine groves in the area. However, huge demand for charcoal for use in copper smelting could be the reason for an early and permanent deforestation of the region.

 

The area around Phonsavan, now the administrative center, and the former provincial capital Muang Khoun rose early in the focus of regional interests. Only with difficulties could the small principality, located here at the focal point of many interests, assert its independence from the big neighbors, Vietnam, Thailand and China. During various campaigns and wars it was destroyed again and again. Yet, for some historians today, the historical Muang Khoun is considered the equal of Luang Prabang, as a once popular, powerful, center of culture and art. When looking at historical images of the sixties in the years when fighting devastated the little place, this may seem exaggerated. However, the former provincial and principality capital, owed the surprising number of high quality religious buildings to her remoteness and the various devastations in her history over the centuries.

 

Meanwhile, unpaved side roads, sometimes through adventurous and arduous   conditions, follow the possible direction of old paths which once provided trading regions as potential cultural landscapes. The regional topography shows a possible, almost logical roadway arrangement of trade routes which might have knotted the areas together with a center located on the Plain of Jars.

 

Following the rules of Cultural Geography, the region would have fulfilled all conditions necessary for it to have been an early industrial region.

 

It raises the question now, as to whether the stone jars might have been able to be used for the copper smelting process. We want to answer this question with a resounding "yes."

 Jars without jet…

•      Are not able to produce a hot flame,

•      …but as far we know from experiments hot enough,

•      …for melting native copper, maybe iron arch and other metals.

•      Traces of the smelting process were not to be found because…

•       expensive jars might have been covered with clay inside,

•      …to protect them for future use,

•      …and to facilitate the removal of all the results of the smelting process.

•       In the next step the produced ball has been beaten out,

•      …and the plain metal has been transported to the customer’s region.

There is no reason why a mining region should own a lot of cultural arts directly resulting from mining activity. Mountain and mining regions in Europe are not filled with artifacts of gold and silver to any significantly greater extent than other regions. The producing regions have become wealthy (maybe) but not rich. Money ran to merchants and traders and not to the miners. Fugger and Welser stayed hundreds of kilometers away from their production – living in opulence and grandiosity, while the mining regions had to fight damage to the environment and the rising cost of living.

Questions around the melting process

When we first raised questions about a possible early industrial past of the Plain de Jars, critics answered that even to have the idea was absurd. Main arguments against such use of the "mysterious" stone jars were the lack of slag residues in the vicinity of the circles, the non existing aeration and also the absence of metal relics within the circles and the jars. None of these arguments, however, speaks against effectively against this particular use of the equipment. Firstly, pure copper or malachite melts at relatively low temperatures. An appropriate ventilation of the bottom of melt accumulator would be therefore not necessary at all. Ventilation of the jars is also possible from above, and most of them are positioned in an arrangement which suggests an orientation along possible natural wind breaks. The impact of these windbreaks could have been concentrated upon the individual jars by simple braided Windscreens to create a supply of air from above. In this way it would have been possible to attain temperatures which would have been more than sufficient the smelting of native copper.

 

Neither pure copper nor malachite leaves large quantities of slag at their melt (depending on the grade of purity). With considerable effort the process would produce the lope and eventually, the resulting billet was forged until it would - after further processes – be of acceptable quality. Slag (even if caused to a small extent) would be so hard to trace because it remains only as remnants of smelting (but here we talk more about a melting than a smelting process). An important argument against a metallurgic use is that so far there was nothing known about the presence of smelting residues – but as far we know there was no seriously research to find relics like slag. That metal residues haven’t been found within the jar and around the formations, due to the complex method of production of the jars, can be explained quite simply if the jars had been covered with clay all around inside before the melting was brought in through  the master craftsmen. In the combustion process the clay would be hard and after cooling, along with the entire contents, could have been removed much more easily than would have been possible with a direct introduction of the melt.

But natural, native copper is a very rare, material. So one other important question to ask is, if and why there might have been a large historic deposit of this treasure in the uplands of Laos? A look on satellite pictures and geologic maps can offer some logical ideas, seen from the geological and geographical viewpoint. The plain of jars area structure looks very similar to the famous German “Noerdlinger Ries” - like a large crater, maybe the result of a meteorite impact that also includes some side impacts similar to the “Steinheimer Becken” next to “Noerdlinger Ries”. If an event like this had taken place, the physical energy of the impact could have changed the arches in the soil in the same way as any smelting process in a gigantic furnace. The result might have been a large deposit of native copper pieces, scattered all over the region in different intensity.  It wouldn’t have been the only place on earth where rare nature events changed   natural structures in a way that opened possibilities, allowing early cultures to grow. Sceneries like this might have been rare but not unusual or impossible.

Even in the German Version of Wikipedia was in February 2012 the following text to be found under the aspect of metal processing: “The Copper Age smelting process was driven mainly by oxide or carbonate minerals malachite and azurite. This could be a one-step process with heating in a reducing atmosphere Smelt (like in one of our jars): the ores produced in the oxidation zone of the veins and can have widths up to 30 m. In addition to oxide ores were also some complex ores, such as chalcopyrite (copper pyrites, CuFeS 2) and chalcocite (copper glance, CuS) smelted. With them is the copper from a sulphide and had to be first roasted to convert the sulfur into sulfur dioxide. In a separate process then the reduction was carried out to copper. For them, it took charcoal as the carbon monoxide which provides the reducing atmosphere (what would have been a second kind of proof – cause the experiments Mr. Muenstermann and his colleagues haven’t been very successful at this step of processing – which was a reason that they decided to use native copper for their presentations at the Rheinland-Pfalz Mining Museum). The melting of the cast copper also requires charcoal, since copper melts at 1083 ° C.

Culturally seen the Copper Age brought several changes for the early societies: Settlements in Central Europe tend to have smaller, more attached to it. They were mainly on high ground (like at the plain of jars). Especially in the Mediterranean, the development of the copper treatment led to increased foreign trade (like this must have been at the plain of Jars). Copper from the Balkans was partially traded as far as Germany, like a copper plate found on Lake Constance proves (so why this shouldn’t be so in the GMS?).”

So it seems, that our theory around the “plain of jars industrial melting area” is not something such unbelievable, sensational and speculative like some specialists like to tell us. 

 

By the way: “Noerdlinger Ries” and the nearby so called “Haertsfeld” were known in former times for their iron industry, based on bean ore, existing until the 19^th century. Some local scientists and teachers told us that settlements around the crater, filled in later ice ages with high-producing loess loam, became cells for an early iron based culture. Noerdlingen, capital of the region, was build at a intersection of mutual streets similar to Muang Khoun.   

 

As far this is the hypothesis is concerned, more results can only be supplied through intensive studies and field research. It seems clear, however, that the mystery of the Plains of Jars will possibly have a very rational solution, comparable to the results reached by Israeli archaeologists from studies on various biblical texts.

From early times…

•      when industrialization in the region started first,

•      …principalities became (more or les) independent,

•      …the region also came into the focus of international power.

•      Not only China, Thailand and Vietnam but also Dutch, British and Portuguese explorers tried to discover the sources of regional prosperity.

•      …in history...

•       the topography was a challenge,

•      …for outside exploration,

•      …an aid to independence…

•      …and a protector of  the people living in the region.

•      Today…

Southeast Asia is much more than an intersection for international trade and traffic; more than a military base for some super power from around the globe. Southeast Asia and its heart, the GMS, is one of the forgotten treasure chambers of the world.

 

•      Mining…

•      …is a burden to environment,

•      …organized by foreign companies,

•      That destroys the historic structures grown over the preceding centuries.

•      Trade…

•      …doesn’t bring income to the local population,

•      …traders and goods come and go,

•      …only few (and not always welcomed) things enter the region and stay permanently.

•      Traffic follows the same rules as mining and…

•      …is a burden to the environment,

•      …organized by foreign companies,

•      that destroys the historic structures grown over the preceding centuries.

•      Tourism…

…is one of the few opportunities for locals to take a part in economic prosperity and historic traditions, so long as the usual “big players” are not holding the key in their hands.

Much more interesting is how these “awaited results” can be used to create a direct economic advantage for the local population. For this, the reanimation of the historic network routes around the Plain of Jars as a kind of touristic route network might be an interesting option. Various kinds of art, culture and craft could become a future source of income for many families staying along the regional connections in currently impoverished and underdeveloped regions of Southeast Asia. There is a developing and growing group of tourists from all over the region, ready and willing to start their personal discovery of the region; its culture and history.

•      Not a Spa & Wellness Destination…

•       

•      …with its hard beauty,

•      …and multi-ethnicity.

The Plain of Jars doesn’t offer a green and smiling Southeast Asia cliché. It’s a dry, deforested plain, looking a little like the mix between Wild West and Mongolia… 

•      Culture…

•      Sport

•      Paragliding,

•      Rafting,

•      Canoeing & kayaking ,

•      Mountain biking,

•      Trekking…

Following the historic routes of trade along rivers and mountain ridges there are a lot of opportunities to experience the local culture and life. First steps might begin with guided tours, but there will be anxiously-awaited marked trails in the future.

 

These potential tourists and customers are mostly well educated and wealthy. They’re a kind of customer who spend more money than the usual tourist visiting a beach resort, and producing less social impact than normal mass tourism.

•      Remember historic  relations and connections…

•       Seeing the Plain of Jars as a melting pot,

•      …the valleys and rivers as tourist arteries,

•      …the mountains as a source of culture.

The Plain of Jars was never isolated, but was always a center of trade and production. Following the historic routes can build a modern identity in a regional and a national sense… 

•      GMS needs a heart…

•      …that historically might have beaten in Xieng Khouang!

•      Why not re-animate the old heart?

•      Why not do so using new methods of cultural tourism?

•      The advantages are too numerous to list…

•      …but there is a new group of Asian tourists,

•      …also coming from the region,

•      …being well educated…

•      …and interested in regional heritage

These potential customers need a customized opportunity to learn about their countries and their integration within a regional system. The system of GMS!

 

Travellers, Traders and Pilgrims have been the promoters of progress, of new ideas and knowledge. Streets have always been the lines of transportation of more than just goods and people. The European Community has created excellent experiences through their “routes of European culture” like for example the famous “camino de Santiago”, a network of streets and paths used for hundreds of years, transporting much more than just pilgrims on their way to one of the most important places in medieval Christianity. Roads, today sometimes not much more than steep tracks, carried the development of the European culture as we know it today; and in a similar way, that’s what we might find in the network of routes around the plain of jars, as the heart of GMS. With one important difference: while Santiago de Compostella was an outpost of medieval Christian world, Phonsavan and  Xieng Khouang Province find themselves really in the heart of the region.

Lets use names of historic kingdoms to avoid discussions about national sentiments. Four routes might have dominated the heart of GMS, as they do today…

•      The Yunnan Street

•       Serving the region around Kunming with metal,

•       Whilst, for example, fabrics might have been transported in the opposite direction

•       Following the mountain ridges.

•      The Cham Street

•       The simplest way to reach the ocean from Xieng Khouang.

•       Vietnamese emperors later became supporters and protectors of the principality…

•      …which paid tribute to them.

•      The Ban Chiang and Khmer Street

•       The Khmer Kingdom was one of the few regions without mineral resources…

•      …having a social structure and military power and…

•      …can be seen as an center of early agricultural industry.

•      In the opposite direction, from the Ban Chiang Region, salt could have been exported to the High Plains of Laos.

•      The Lanna and Mon Street…

 

So let us plan and build up the resources for cultural tourism in the region and along the arteries of historic traffic and trade in GMS. This might give the former heart of GMS a new push to make it beat again…

Authors: Lipp, Hans, dipl. Geographer (Tuebingen) , Tillmann, Otto dipl. Geographer (Trier), engineer Ulrich Muenstermann (Rheinland-Pfalz-State Mining Museum Fischbach / Idar-Oberstein), cand. Dr. phil. Reinhard Hohler (Heidelberg)