Megalithic Connections

This interdisciplinary project aims to explore the cultural connections between the geographically disparate megalithic cultures of Laos and Northeast India and create an enduring digital record of these vulnerable cultural assets.

Integrating archaeological science and pioneering data capture technologies, the project will facilitate a better understanding of the cultures that created the sites, the relationship between these regions and digitally conserve the heritage assets for future research and benefit. With an increasing awareness of the need to conserve global cultural assets, the Pitt Rivers Museum is pleased to partner with researchers from Australia, New Zealand, UK, India and Laos in this important Australia Research Council funded project. The research will be enhanced by the inclusion of historical material from the Pitt Rivers Museum’s unique collections including photographs, film, correspondence, drawings from anthropologists Hutton, Mills and Bower relating to Assam and Nagaland.

Principal Investigator: Louise Shewan, Senior Research Fellow in Archaeological Science, University of Melbourne

Further information on the Laos sites is available via: www.plain-of-jars.org