New research published in the journal PNAS reveals that the world's oldest mummies originated from China and Southeast Asia around 10,000-12,000 years ago, predating the famous mummification practices of Egypt and Chile by thousands of years.
According to senior researcher Hsiao-chun Hung from Australian National University, these ancient smoke-dried mummies were discovered through analysis of dozens of burial sites across China, Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where skeletons were found in tightly contracted "hyperflexion" positions.
The mummification process involved smoking corpses over low-temperature fires for extended periods, which researchers confirmed through X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy techniques that revealed light heating marks and soot traces on the bones rather than complete cremation burns.
This ancient smoke-mummification practice continues today among indigenous communities like the Dani and Pumo peoples in Papua, Indonesia, who still preserve their ancestors by tightly binding bodies and smoking them over fires until they turn charcoal black.
The discovery supports the "two-layer migration" theory proposed by biological anthropologist Ivy Hui-Yuan Yeh from Nanyang Technological University, suggesting these smoke-mummy traditions were established by hunter-gatherer populations who arrived in Southeast Asia around 65,000 years ago, distinct from Neolithic farmers who came later.
