Earliest evidence of smoke-dried mummification: More than 10,000 years ago in southern China and Southeast Asia
In southern China and Southeast Asia (collectively, Southeastern Asia), Terminal Pleistocene and Early to Middle Holocene (ca. 12,000 to 4,000 cal. BP) hunter-gatherer burials feature tightly crouched or squatting postures, sometimes with indications of post-mortem dismemberment. Such burials contrast strongly with the extended supine burial postures typical of subsequent Neolithic inhumations in these regions. Their contorted postures, often with traces of burning, present interpretive challenges. This study uses multiple techniques, including X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, to investigate 54 pre-Neolithic burials from 11 archaeological sites located across Southeastern Asia. The findings confirm that many of these pre-Neolithic flexed and squatting burials were treated by an extended period of smoke-drying over fire, a process of mummification similar to that recorded ethnographically in some Australian and Highland New Guinea societies. Some of the analyzed archaeological samples represent the oldest known instances of such artificial mummification in the world.
Authors
- Mohammad Ruly Fauzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1446-2332)
- Khanh Trung Kien Nguyen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6966-1849)
- Hirofumi Matsumura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5453-7987)
- Hai Dang Le (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1227-2287)
- Sofwan Noerwidi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2098-8496)
- Zhenhua Deng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6412-7399)
- Hsiao‐chun Hung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5794-3040)
- Gang He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5319-7084)
- Yue Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8924-0434)
- Junmei Sawada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8071-8159)
- Peter Bellwood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6033-9629)
- Yousuke Kaifu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0483-104X)
- Y. B. Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9003-8022)
- Mariko Yamagata
- Zhen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1177-2818)
- Chi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1886-8225)
- Qiang Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0731-3176)
- Anh Tuan Nguyen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4321-6085)
- Guangmao Xie
- Marlin Tolla
- Truman Simanjuntak
- Zhiyu Ran
- Alpius Wetipo
Institutions
- King University (US)
- Australian National University (AU)
- Shanghai Museum (CN)
- Rikkyo University (JP)
- Sapporo Medical University (JP)
- University of Brawijaya (ID)
- Peking University (CN)
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (FR)
- Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VN)
- Guangxi Normal University (CN)
- Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)
- Shandong Museum (CN)
- University of Tokyo Hospital (JP)
- Research Institute for Aquaculture No1 (VN)
- Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology (CN)
- National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (ID)
- Niigata University of Health and Welfare (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2025-09-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2515103122
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 13.44
Funders
- National Museum of Nature and Science
- Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- University of Tokyo
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science