Laotian Jars, Oldest African Human Burial, and Saudi Arabian Stone Rectangles - TAS 122

What this episode covers

This week we discuss three interesting archaeology stories in the news. First, new dating techniques are used to date Laos' field of jars. Then, we discuss the oldest known homo sapien burial found in Africa. Finally, excavations of mustatils in Saudi Arabia shed some light on what these structures were used for. Links * Archaeologists finally uncovered some of the mystery behind Laos's Plain of Jars [https://www.popsci.com/story/science/plain-of-jars-laos-burial-site/] * Dating the megalithic culture of laos: Radiocarbon, optically stimulated luminescence and U/Pb zircon results [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0247167] * Africa's Oldest Human Burial Site [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/childs-grave-is-the-oldest-human-burial-found-in-africa] * These mysterious stone structures in Saudi Arabia are older than the pyramids [https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/mysterious-stone-structures-saudi-arabia-are-older-pyramids-rcna805] * The mustatils: cult and monumentality in Neolithic north-western Arabia [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/mustatils-cult-and-monumentality-in-neolithic-northwestern-arabia/80E2AD8B538C268E7CA5C3C29CB4EC52] Contact * Chris Webster * [email protected] Please Visit Our Sponsors! * Archaeology Southwest Cafe: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/things-to-do/cafe/ Affiliates * Wildnote [http://www.wildnoteapp.com/] * TeePublic [https://www.teepublic.com/?ref_id=5724&ref_type=aff] * Timeular [https://timeular.com/ref/chriswebster/]