Archaeologists find earliest evidence of deliberate mummification — smoke‑drying bodies in southern China 12,000 years ago
Analysis of 95 pre‑Neolithic burial sites suggests bodies were bound, smoke‑dried over low‑intensity fires and then interred, predating Egyptian and Chinchorro practices
Archaeologists report the earliest known evidence of deliberate human mummification after identifying signs that prehistoric communities in southern China smoke‑dried corpses before burial as long as 12,000 years ago.
Researchers from the Australian National University and partner institutions analysed skeletal remains and burial contexts from 95 pre‑Neolithic archaeological sites across southern China. They recorded tightly flexed or squatting burial positions, indications of binding, and burning and cut marks on bones. Microscopic examination of bone internal microstructure found traces consistent with exposure to low‑intensity heat, a pattern the authors interpret as extended smoke‑drying prior to interment.
The team published the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, arguing that the combination of burial position, lack of bone separation that usually follows decomposition, and heat exposure indicates corpses were desiccated before burial rather than buried as fresh cadavers. Individual examples cited in the study include a middle‑aged man from Huiyaotian in Guangxi, dated to more than 9,000 years ago and buried in a hyper‑flexed position, and a young man from the Liyupo site, dated to roughly 7,000 years ago, whose skull showed partial burning.
Based on the distribution of physical evidence and ethnographic parallels, the researchers propose a recurrent mortuary sequence: the deceased were tightly bound, often in a hyper‑flexed pose, placed above a low‑temperature fire for an extended smoking period to dry and preserve soft tissues, and then moved to a domestic space, hut, rock shelter or cave before eventual burial. The authors note these practices appear to have continued across the region for more than 10,000 years.
The study situates the Chinese evidence as older than mummification associated with the Chinchorro culture of coastal Chile and the better‑known embalming traditions of ancient Egypt. The authors also draw comparisons with documented smoke‑drying mortuary rituals among some Indigenous Australian and Highland New Guinea societies, where bodies are treated to limit decay and to manage social and spiritual relationships with the dead.
"In practical terms, smoking was likely the most effective option for preserving corpses in tropical climates, where heat and humidity would otherwise have caused rapid decomposition," the paper states. The researchers caution, however, that preservation alone may not fully explain the consistency and care of the treatments, suggesting symbolic and social meanings were likely involved. They cite ethnographic accounts in which the spirit of the deceased is thought to roam during the day and return to the preserved body at night, and beliefs that mummification is linked to hopes of continuity or immortality.
The identification of smoke‑drying relied on convergent lines of evidence. Burial posture and the absence of typical postmortem bone separation indicated the bodies were buried in a desiccated state. Visible burning marks and cut marks on bones pointed to deliberate treatment rather than accidental heat exposure. Microscopic changes within bone tissue were consistent with low‑intensity thermal exposure rather than the higher temperatures associated with cremation.
Natural mummification also occurs without human intervention under particular environmental conditions such as extreme cold, aridity or oxygen‑poor peat bogs. The authors distinguish the Chinese pattern from natural preservation because of the intentional sequence of binding, controlled low‑heat exposure and subsequent handling and placement of the bodies.
The findings add to a growing picture of complex mortuary behavior among hunter‑gatherer and early farming communities in East and Southeast Asia during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. By pushing the earliest clear evidence for deliberate mummification back to roughly 12,000 years ago, the research extends the temporal range and geographic diversity of known body‑preservation practices.
Further work will be needed to clarify regional variability in technique, the social status of those treated with smoke‑drying, and the ritual meanings attached to the practice. The researchers emphasize the importance of integrating skeletal analysis, burial context and ethnographic comparison to interpret early mortuary rites and their significance within prehistoric lifeways.