This presentation, conveys my personal review of projects centred on two sites in the Plain of Jars that were investigated as potential occupation sites inhabited by the creators of the stone jars. I discuss the wider network behind these projects, which were developed and run as a close collaboration between the Lao Department of Heritage, National University of Laos, James Cook University, provincial and district governments, and the Lao Airforce. The projects were run as cultural exchanges and fieldschools for undergraduates of NUoL and JCU, and the challenges and benefits of this approach are discussed. Archaeologically, the two sites presented very different challenges and findings that are discussed here. I argue that given the pace of development on the Plain of Jars it is important to investigate fragmentary and endangered sites for what evidence they may contain before they disappear. These sites offer important clues to the lives of past communities in the area and it is important that they are identified and investigated alongside the iconic Stone Jar sites (I acknowledge the debt we all owe to the late Ajarn Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy: the work was supported by the New Colombo Plan (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Govt.), Phu Bia Mining and is associated with the Plain of Jars Archaeological Project).