Exploration of hanging coffin customs and the bo people in China through comparative genomics

The Hanging Coffin represents a distinctive mortuary tradition practiced across southern China, Southeast Asia (e.g., the Log Coffin), and the Pacific approximately 3,000 years. Historical records attribute this funerary practice to the Bo people, a group that largely disappeared from documented history by the end of the Ming Dynasty (1,368-1,644 AD). Here we report eleven ancient genomes from four Hanging Coffin sites in China, alongside thirty whole genomes from the extant Bo people in Southwest China. We also sequence four ancient genomes from Log Coffin sites in northwestern Thailand. Our findings indicate that present-day Bo people derive a substantial proportion of their ancestry from practitioners of the Hanging Coffin mortuary tradition. Both ancient and modern groups exhibit elevated genetic affinity with coastal Neolithic populations from southern East Asia, who are ancestral to Tai-Kadai and Austronesian speakers. Unexpectedly, we also find evidence of long-range interactions and cultural inclusivity between Northeast Asian and Yellow River farmers and Hanging Coffin communities over 1,200 years ago. Finally, shared genetic components between Hanging (Log) Coffin populations in China and Thailand point to a common origin and a broader genetic and cultural network underlying this distinctive mortuary tradition across southern China and Southeast Asia.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-11-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65264-3
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Forensic and Genetic Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.82

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article

Exploration of hanging coffin customs and the bo people in China through comparative genomics

Hui Zhou, Jiayong Cao, Baitong Wang, Yaozheng Guo et al.
1 citations
Nature Communications
Forensic and Genetic Research
1.82
article

Exploration of hanging coffin customs and the bo people in China through comparative genomics

Hui Zhou, Jiayong Cao, Baitong Wang, Yaozheng Guo, Bing Su, Chuan-Chao Wang, Kongyang Zhu, Rasmi Shoocongdej, Hong Liu, Fuchun Joseph Lin, Shengmin Huang, Shifeng Wu, Wibhu Kutanan, Tao Le, Xueping Ji, Yilan Liu, Hong Shi, Yaoxi He, Xian Wang, Rui Wang, Yun Wu, Lifeng Xiong, Yinhui Zhao, Haifeng He, Yongli Yang, Xiaomin Yang, Yu Xu, Wenjing Lu, Xiaoming Zhang, Tengsong Yu, Zhiwei Kuang
article en
1 citations

Abstract

The Hanging Coffin represents a distinctive mortuary tradition practiced across southern China, Southeast Asia (e.g., the Log Coffin), and the Pacific approximately 3,000 years. Historical records attribute this funerary practice to the Bo people, a group that largely disappeared from documented history by the end of the Ming Dynasty (1,368-1,644 AD). Here we report eleven ancient genomes from four Hanging Coffin sites in China, alongside thirty whole genomes from the extant Bo people in Southwest China. We also sequence four ancient genomes from Log Coffin sites in northwestern Thailand. Our findings indicate that present-day Bo people derive a substantial proportion of their ancestry from practitioners of the Hanging Coffin mortuary tradition. Both ancient and modern groups exhibit elevated genetic affinity with coastal Neolithic populations from southern East Asia, who are ancestral to Tai-Kadai and Austronesian speakers. Unexpectedly, we also find evidence of long-range interactions and cultural inclusivity between Northeast Asian and Yellow River farmers and Hanging Coffin communities over 1,200 years ago. Finally, shared genetic components between Hanging (Log) Coffin populations in China and Thailand point to a common origin and a broader genetic and cultural network underlying this distinctive mortuary tradition across southern China and Southeast Asia.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Kunming University of Science and Technology (CN), Kunming Institute of Zoology (CN), Yunnan University (CN), Xiamen University (CN), Fudan University (CN), TiGenix (Spain) (ES), Cultural Relics Institute Hebei Province (CN), Museum of Heilongjiang Province (CN), Youjiang Medical College for Nationalities (CN), Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities (CN), Yunnan Archaeology (CN), Institute of Forensic Science (CN), Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology (CN), Nanning Normal University (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Naresuan University (TH), Silpakorn University (TH)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fudan University, Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, Naresuan University, Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, National Social Science Fund of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Forensic and Genetic Research
1.82
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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