In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on September 15, researchers reported what they believed were the world’s oldest known mummies in Southeast Asia, with evidence of mummification practices dating back about 14,000 years.
A team led by archaeologist Hsiao-chun Hung at the Australian National University identified deliberately mummified remains in southern China and Southeast Asia dating from roughly 4,000 to 14,000 years ago. The team analyzed 54 pre-Neolithic skeletons from 11 archaeological sites in southern China, northern Vietnam, and Sumatra using X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The Independent reported that these methods detected microscopic heat-altered changes in bone, and that about 84% of the skeletons showed traces of prolonged low-temperature exposure consistent with smoke-drying rather than burning.
Archaeologists documented bodies arranged in a curled, fetal position, minimal bone disarticulation, and good skeletal condition, patterns that indicated the deceased were dried before burial rather than interred as fresh corpses. In the monsoonal climates of East and Southeast Asia, where natural desiccation was unlikely, the analysis suggested that communities smoke-cured bodies to preserve skin and soft tissues before final interment, Sky News Arabia reported. Investigators also noted scorch marks, cut and burn marks, and discolorations compatible with prolonged exposure to smoky, low-temperature settings; some bones appeared smoke-scorched rather than directly burned.
The oldest individual in the sample was an adult male from Hang Mu Cave in Hoa Binh Province, northern Vietnam. Radiocarbon dating placed his burial between 14,027 and 13,798 years ago, and burn marks on the right humerus indicated post-mortem processing such as smoking.
Egypt’s most famous embalmed mummies dated to the Old Kingdom about 4,500 years ago. An early mummification tradition that relied on desiccation along the Atacama coast in the Chinchorro culture has been dated to around 7000 BCE. The new evidence suggests that smoke-drying in Southeast Asia predated both.
“This type of smoke-drying is, so far, the oldest demonstrated method of the intentional preservation of corpses that we have on record anywhere in the world,” said ANU Emeritus Professor Peter Bellwood. “The practice allowed communities to maintain physical and spiritual connections with the ancestors,” said anthropologist Hirofumi Matsumura of Sapporo Medical University and the lead author.
“Smoking at that time had spiritual, religious, or cultural meanings that went far beyond simply delaying decomposition,” said Hung. “The creation of a single smoked mummy required three months of continuous care by family members or community members, a commitment that could only be maintained thanks to a deep love and spiritual devotion,” the researchers wrote.
Ethnographic records showed similar practices among some Indigenous communities in Australia and the New Guinea Highlands, where smoke-dried bodies were kept and displayed during ceremonies; among the Dani, the bodies were brought out during religious festivals. “The people still believe that the spirit of the dead roams freely during the day and returns at night to the mummified body,” said Hung. Over time, mummified remains were placed in caves, under rock shelters, or buried, and only their bones persisted.
Some scholars urged caution. “An important contribution to the study of prehistoric funerary practices,” said Rita Peyroteo Stjerna. It is not yet clear that smoke-drying occurred consistently across all sites in the region.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.