Many Hmong also came to Australia, often to Tasmania where they ran market garden stalls at the Salamanca markets, and sewn craft items, very common sight int he 80s. Through the 90s they moved to Queensland where a major shaman lived. And where, like Hobart, it was mountainous, but unlike Hobart is was sub-tropical.
Interesting. I came across many references to the Hmong in Australia, they are something of a cause celebre within anthropology. How they reorganised themselves around religious leaders and so on, their communitarian clash with a more individualistic society, all grist to the mill for the academic.
Wow what a story. I am left with the image of the Plain of the Jars filled with these other mysterious containers, the unexploded ordinance. I sort of imagined at the end some future archeaologists coming and trying to explain the connection between the jars and the bombs and classifying them all into different periods explaining the transition from pottery to steel and trying to connect the incendiary ordinance to cremation.
Excellent read. My brief flirtation with archaeology was in an entirely different area of the world, but I am still fascinated by all of it though I couldn’t make a career go at it. Thank you for connecting so many dots. I hope that we will learn more from these jars on the plains and unlock more about how many different and amazing ways there have been to be human. Keep up the good work!
The fact I write an anonymous newsletter alongside my day job should give an indication of job prospects and wages within academic archaeology, so I don't blame you! For sure, if and when the Plain can ever be free of bombs then I'm sure we'll see all sorts of cool stuff emerging. Laos in general is very understudied, afaik there's only one or two home grown archaeologists running all the museums.
So glad you enjoyed it John. I had these two stories, one about the Plain and the other about the Hmong nocturnal deaths, and they just slotted together in a rambling kind of way. Something for everyone!
Many Hmong also came to Australia, often to Tasmania where they ran market garden stalls at the Salamanca markets, and sewn craft items, very common sight int he 80s. Through the 90s they moved to Queensland where a major shaman lived. And where, like Hobart, it was mountainous, but unlike Hobart is was sub-tropical.
Interesting. I came across many references to the Hmong in Australia, they are something of a cause celebre within anthropology. How they reorganised themselves around religious leaders and so on, their communitarian clash with a more individualistic society, all grist to the mill for the academic.
Wow what a story. I am left with the image of the Plain of the Jars filled with these other mysterious containers, the unexploded ordinance. I sort of imagined at the end some future archeaologists coming and trying to explain the connection between the jars and the bombs and classifying them all into different periods explaining the transition from pottery to steel and trying to connect the incendiary ordinance to cremation.
Its a vivid image, I'm sure material culture specialists of the future will be fascinated to see bomb casings turned into fence posts and spoons.
Fantastic history lesson. Thank you. I lived in the Central Valley of California in the 1970s and remember when the Hmong were settled there.
Glad you enjoyed it! Do you have any memories of the Hmong, I imagine they kept to themselves a lot?
Excellent read. My brief flirtation with archaeology was in an entirely different area of the world, but I am still fascinated by all of it though I couldn’t make a career go at it. Thank you for connecting so many dots. I hope that we will learn more from these jars on the plains and unlock more about how many different and amazing ways there have been to be human. Keep up the good work!
The fact I write an anonymous newsletter alongside my day job should give an indication of job prospects and wages within academic archaeology, so I don't blame you! For sure, if and when the Plain can ever be free of bombs then I'm sure we'll see all sorts of cool stuff emerging. Laos in general is very understudied, afaik there's only one or two home grown archaeologists running all the museums.
This was absolutely fascinating. A genuine treasure trove of hidden history.
So glad you enjoyed it John. I had these two stories, one about the Plain and the other about the Hmong nocturnal deaths, and they just slotted together in a rambling kind of way. Something for everyone!
There doesn't always been to be a point ... the simple joy of stumbling across shiny objects can be sublime enough in itself.