CANBERRA AUSTRALIA — Archaeologists from the Australian National University have identified the world’s oldest deliberate mummies, some dating back 12,000 years, across 95 archaeological sites from southern China to Indonesia. The findings, confirmed by Professor Hsiao-chun Hung on Tuesday, suggest that people in prehistoric Southeast Asia intentionally preserved their dead using smoke and heat instead of salt and sand.
Smoke and Fire Preservation
Professor Hsiao-chun Hung explained on March 12 that ancient hunter-gatherer groups maintained fires beneath suspended bodies for several days, allowing smoke to dry and preserve human tissue. “WE FOUND CLEAR SIGNS OF HEAT EXPOSURE ON BONES AND SKIN, INDICATING CONTROLLED SMOKING AND PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO FIRE,” she said in Canberra. Excavations at sites in Vietnam’s Sơn La Province and Sulawesi, Indonesia, revealed compact, crouched burials with charcoal residue still attached to skeletal remains.
Archaeologists documented over 30 preserved individuals showing burn marks consistent with smoke exposure at temperatures around 200 degrees Celsius. Hung’s team collected carbon samples dated by the Australian National Laboratory to between 12,000 and 10,000 BCE, pushing back evidence of ritual preservation by at least 5,000 years.
Complex Burial Rituals
During a four-year excavation project across southern China, Laos, and Borneo, researchers identified thousands of microscopic cut marks on rib and leg bones. Dr. Mei Lin, an osteologist at the University of Sydney, said on April 5, 2024, that many cuts appeared intentional. “THE POSITION OF THESE TRACE CUTS SHOWS THAT TISSUES WERE MODIFIED BEFORE DRYING, POSSIBLY TO RELEASE BODY FLUIDS OR FLEX LIMBS FOR CROUCHED POSTURES,” she explained.
Some sites, including Ban Chiang in northern Thailand, contained small removed flesh fragments buried nearby, which Hung described as evidence of ceremonial preparation. The discovery supports theories that early Southeast Asian communities practiced spiritual rituals linked to ancestor reverence.
Geographic Breadth of Findings
The research team surveyed a total of 95 sites across five modern countries — China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Indonesia — covering an area of roughly 4 million square kilometres. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that preserved bodies spanned a period from 12,000 to 6,000 years ago, suggesting long-term continuity of the smoking technique.
Hung stated that similar traditions still appear today among indigenous groups in Papua New Guinea’s highlands and northern Australia. “THESE COMMUNITIES SOMETIMES DRY BODIES USING FIRE TO MAINTAIN SPIRIT CONNECTIONS — IT IS A DEEP CULTURAL THREAD THAT LINKS PAST AND PRESENT,” she told reporters on May 2, 2024.
Recasting Human History
By comparison, the oldest known Egyptian mummies date to around 4,500 years ago, and the earliest Chinchorro mummies in northern Chile are roughly 7,000 years old. The Southeast Asian examples, reaching 12,000 years, predate both by millennia. According to Hung, the results challenge established timelines in global archaeology. “THESE FINDS PROVE THAT SOPHISTICATED RITUALS EXISTED IN SMALL HUNTER-GATHERER COMMUNITIES LONG BEFORE ORGANIZED STATES EMERGED,” she added.
The team plans to publish full results in the Journal of Human Evolution in mid-2024. Preliminary peer review by Dr. Michael Nguyen, a bioarchaeologist at the National Museum of Vietnam, confirmed that collagen residue in the bones contained smoke-derived carbon particles — definitive proof of deliberate preservation by heat.
Key Discoveries
– 95 excavation sites analyzed across Southeast Asia
– 12,000-year-old carbon dates confirmed by laboratory tests
– Evidence of controlled burning and ritual cutting before burial
– Links to surviving indigenous mortuary practices in New Guinea and Australia
With direct physical evidence from multiple regions, the Australian-led team has extended the known history of mummification by over 5,000 years, revealing a previously unknown spiritual tradition rooted in smoke, fire and enduring connection to the dead.