World’s oldest evidence of smoke-dried mummification over 10,000 years old found in Southern China

Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known evidence of smoke-dried mummification, dating back more than 10,000 years, in burial sites across southern China and Southeast Asia.

According to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), titled “Earliest evidence of smoke-dried mummification: More than 10,000 years ago in southern China and Southeast Asia”, hunter-gatherer communities between 12,000 and 4,000 years ago preserved their dead by exposing bodies to smoke and fire for extended periods, creating a form of artificial mummification.

The study examined 54 pre-Neolithic (part of the Stone Age) burials from 11 archaeological sites, where bodies were often bound tightly in crouched or squatting postures and showed signs of burning, cutting, and deliberate positioning. Using X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy, researchers confirmed that many bones had been exposed to low-temperature smoke-drying, leaving microscopic traces invisible to the naked eye.

This practice predates the world-famous mummies of the Chinchorro culture in Chile (7,000 years ago) and Ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom (4,500 years ago).

Experts said the findings highlight a remarkably enduring set of mortuary traditions among hunter-gatherers in Southeast Asia, closely linked to cultural practices later observed among Indigenous groups in the New Guinea Highlands and parts of Australia, where smoke-drying of the dead continued into modern times.

The study not only documents the world’s oldest artificial mummification process but also offers new insights into the cultural complexity of early human societies in Asia.