The human history of Laos stretches back more than 10,000 years as stone tools and skulls unearthed in Huaphan and Luang Prabang provinces can confirm. The famous giant jars in Xieng Khouang province and stone columns in Huaphan province date from the neolithic period. Over centuries, rural settlements grew slowly to 'muang' (townships) along the Mekong River.
The charismatic King Fa Ngoum (1349-1357) began grouping the muang into a unified Lan Xang Kingdom, basing the capital at Xiengdong Xiengthong, now known as Luang Prabang. Fa Ngoum was also a warrior, and between 1353 and 1371 he invaded and conquered territories that include all of present-day Laos and much of what makes up northern and eastern Thailand