Authors
Hsiao-Chun Hung, Zhenhua Deng, Yiheng Liu, Zhiyu Ran, Yue Zhang, Zhen Li, Yousuke Kaifu, Qiang Huang, Khanh Trung Kien Nguyen, Hai Dang Le, Guangmao Xie, Anh Tuan Nguyen, Mariko Yamagata, Truman Simanjuntak, Sofwan Noerwidi, Mohammad Ruly Fauzi, Marlin Tolla, Alpius Wetipo, Gang He, Junmei Sawada, Chi Zhang, Peter Bellwood, Hirofumi Matsumura
Published in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Volume 122. Issue 38. Pages e2515103122. Sep 23, 2025. Epub Sep 15, 2025.
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.
PMID:
40953259
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Sep 2025.
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