In a study published on Monday by the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said that large-scale mummification of human remains was practised in the region as early as 12,000 years ago.
An investigation of 54 pre-Neolithic burials from 11 archaeological sites across Southeast Asia confirmed that many of the bodies had been smoke-dried over a prolonged period, mostly in tightly bound, crouched postures, the study said.
The samples, mainly from southern China, Vietnam and Indonesia, were far older than Chile’s Chinchorro mummies, dating back around 7,000 years, and the earliest known attempts at mummification in ancient Egypt from about 4,500 years ago, it said.
Taking part in the study were researchers from the Australian National University, Peking University, the University of Tokyo and the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology.
Between 20,000 and 4,000 years ago, before the spread of Neolithic populations ancestral to most living East and Southeast Asians, the region was inhabited by hunter-gatherers who followed a complex set of mortuary practices.
