Earliest evidence of smoke-dried mummification: More than 10,000 years ago in southern China and Southeast Asia
Abstract
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.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (23)
Hsiao-chun Hung
Department of Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University
Zhenhua Deng
Key Laboratory of Archaeological Science (Peking University), Ministry of Education
Yiheng Liu
Key Laboratory of Archaeological Science (Peking University), Ministry of Education
Zhiyu Ran
Yue Zhang
Zhen Li
Yousuke Kaifu
The University Museum, The University of Tokyo
Qiang Huang
Khanh Trung Kien Nguyen
Center for Archaeology, Southern Institute for Social Sciences,
Hai Dang Le
Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Social Science
Guangmao Xie
Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology
Anh Tuan Nguyen
Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Social Science
Mariko Yamagata
College of Arts, Rikkyo University
Truman Simanjuntak
Center for Prehistoric and Austronesian Studies
Sofwan Noerwidi
Mohammad Ruly Fauzi
Research Center for Archaeometry, The National Research and Innovation Agency
Marlin Tolla
Research Center for Archaeometry, The National Research and Innovation Agency
Alpius Wetipo
Department of Culture and Tourism, Jayawijaya Regency
Gang He
Junmei Sawada
Institute of Physical Anthropology, Niigata University of Health and Welfare
Chi Zhang
Peter Bellwood
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University
Hirofumi Matsumura
Department of Anatomy, Sapporo Medical University