They keep popping up giant containers made by an unknown culture, this time 65 of them were found in the city of Assam, India. So far, archaeologists have not been able to identify who might have made these megalithic vessels.
However, experts continue to investigate try to clarify the mystery, -which is already several years old- around these old containers. Because in addition to India, these objects have also been found in Indonesia and Laos.
But the more giant containers appear, the more the enigma grows around them, since only a few assumptions are manipulated that attempt to explain the unexplainable. What culture do they belong to? What were they made for? More interestingly, was where and how they were placed accidental or deliberately placed there?
The giant containers belong to the Neolithic period
A team of archaeologists members of Australian National University (ANU), subjected the giant containers to various tests, trying to establish which period they belonged to. The results obtained, indicate that the dating corresponds to about 8 thousand years in the Neolithic.
According to historians, this period of humanity was very important, since it marked the appearance of the first populated agglomerations. Likewise, the use of cattle and the construction of the first known cities on the shelves of history began to be used.
This is why this historical period is considered so important, because served to lay the foundations of future civilizations. Therefore the giant containers they were made by an ancient culture, of which absolutely nothing is known today.
The megalithic vessels discovered.
Giant pots have been found since 1929!
With the new find recently made in Assam, the number of sites with giant containers increases to 11. Initially, the discovery of these mysterious containers was made in 1929, when English archaeologists revealed the existence of 6 different places with a lot of them.
Several years passed before the list of such places grew. This is took place between 2016 and 2017 while An expedition was underway along the routes described above by English officials. In the middle of this trip, archaeologists found a new location with more of these vessels.
then in the the fieldwork of the year 2020 has resumed to inspect some sites that had not been thoroughly investigated before. Nicholas Skoppal member of the Australian National University (ANU) team, Explain which have been divided into grids to cover this vast wooded area.
As a result, they started finding new places – up to 4 of them – with more of these giant containers. add all the megalithic vessels found in the 11 locationsa total is reached that exceeds 700 in an area that covers about 300 square kilometers.
For possible funeral purposes
Some of the ships discovered were partially or totally buried in the ground. Courtesy of Tilok Thakuria
Clues gathered over the years suggest that the giant containers were used for burial purposes, possibly for religious funeral rites. The first to refer to this fact were the English Mills and Hutton in 1929.
They mentioned in their reports that inside several of the huge containers, they found remains of burnt bones. Something similar was pointed out at the time by the British anthropologist Ursula Graham in 1930, after living together in the city Zeme Naga.
On this occasion, the villagers raised an interesting theory about the origin of the containers. In their comments, they show that, the lost tribe of Siemi were who they designed them to use in their funeral rituals. They claim to have found cremated human remains, along with beads and other materials inside the pitchers.
Specialists believe that the containers could be part of a ritual aimed at accompany the dead to another plane of existence. More than anything, because similar burials have been found scattered all over Laos.
Position and forms
Jars at Lower Chaikam. Courtesy: Thakuria et al., Asian Archaeology, 2022
The the containers have different shapes, some are round, others cylindrical and tall, there are also two cones. Many are in plain sight, others are half buried. In terms of conditions, many are battered, but there are also some in good condition.
A detail that attracts attention concerns the position in which the ships are. All are placed with the opening down the mountain, not just the 65 recently found, but also those found in Indonesia and Laos.
All ships seem to have been deliberately placed on ridges, foothills and hills, overlooking the lowlands.
Another fact that has aroused the curiosity of archaeologists is that they have not found any sources of sandstone from which the vessels were carved near any of the sites.
You might also be interested in: “Giant’s Wheel”: The 5,000-year-old monument whose origin is still a mystery.
Taking into account that there are almost 800 containers and more will probably be obtained soon, as there are still areas to explore, experts say their use was quite widespread. For now, we have to wait for the missing answers, to see if this riddle can finally be solved.
References: National Geographic / Science Alert.
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