World's oldest mummies discovered, estimated to be up to 12,000 years old
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When one hears the word “mummy”, many may picture ancient Egyptian or Chilean archaeological sites.
The mummies of pharaohs resting deep within pyramids and those naturally preserved in arid desert regions are world-renowned.
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However, this time, a ‘world's oldest mummy’ that overturns conventional wisdom has been discovered in a completely different region – Southeast Asia and southern China.
Research by the Australian National University (ANU) and others indicates these mummies date back as far as 12,000 years.
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This predates the previously oldest known mummies from Chile's Chinchorro culture (around 7,000 years ago) and the ancient Egyptian kings (around 4,500 years ago) by a considerable margin.
Moreover, the method used to create these mummies differed significantly from the conventional techniques we are familiar with.
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References:
Oldest Human Mummies Discovered, And They’re Not What We Expected
https://www.sciencealert.com/oldest-human-mummies-discovered-and-theyre-not-what-we-expected
The oldest mummies in the world may hail from southeastern Asia and date back 12,000 years
https://phys.org/news/2025-09-oldest-mummies-world-hail-southeastern.html
Earliest evidence of smoke-dried mummification: More than 10,000 years ago in southern China and Southeast Asia
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2515103122
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World's oldest mummies discovered!
The discovery took place in caves and archaeological sites across Southeast Asia, primarily in southern China and northern Vietnam.
An international research team examined numerous burial remains dating from approximately 12,000 to 4,000 years ago, excavated at these sites.
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Many were found in a “crouching posture” or “huddled posture”, with the bodies tightly bound and folded into a tiny size.
Initially, researchers were unable to determine the reason for these unusual burial positions.
Natural decomposition alone would not result in such extreme poses.
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Furthermore, scorch marks and cut marks were found on some of the bones, raising the question: ‘Had some special treatment been applied?’
This led to a focus on ‘fire’ and ‘smoke’.
The team analysed minute fragments of the bones, examining in detail the chemical changes caused by heat and smoke.
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The results revealed traces of “smoking” by fire or smoke in over 80% of the remains.
※ This is an example of a smoked mummy stored in a private home in Papua, Indonesia. (Photographed January 2019)
Moreover, the heating was concentrated on specific bones (such as the skull and extremities), indicating the body was not uniformly charred.
This discovery demonstrates that ‘artificial mummification’ – specifically ‘smoke-cured mummification’ – distinctly different from simple cremation or natural decay, was practised by Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers over 10,000 years ago.
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The enduring culture of “smoked mummies” into modern times:
This technique of smoked mummification has been passed down through the generations among certain contemporary ethnic groups.
For instance, among the Dani people inhabiting the highlands of Papua New Guinea and certain groups of Australia's Indigenous peoples, funeral rites involving “preserving the deceased by smoking them with smoke” persist to this day.
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The body is tightly bound and slowly smoked over a fire for weeks until it turns pitch black and dries out. It is then carefully stored for a long time within the home or in a special place.
Why has this practice of “smoke mummification” been passed down across such a vast area?
It is thought to have held not just a practical purpose for preservation, but also a spiritual significance: “maintaining the connection between ancestors and the living”.
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Even among modern Papuans, some regions retain the belief that ‘the souls of ancestors return to their mummified bodies at night’.
Furthermore, the incision marks on the bones and the arrangement of ‘scattered’ bones are thought to result from post-mortem fluid drainage, the smoking process, or ritual purposes.
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This was not mere dismemberment, but rather a complex interweaving of techniques and beliefs designed to “keep ancestors close for eternity”.
These “smoked mummies” remain valuable evidence of ethnic and cultural diversity even today, offering crucial insights into humanity's views on life and death and the origins of ancestor worship.
World's oldest mummies discovered, estimated to be up to 12,000 years old
https://nazology.kusuguru.co.jp/archives/185096
