Genetic Study Links Ancient ‘Hanging Coffins’ to the Bo People — A Cliffside Burial Tradition Spreads Across Southeast Asia

A recent genomic study has shed new light on the mysterious tradition of "hanging coffins" in southern China, linking the cliffside burials to ancestors of the Bo people and tracing cultural connections across Southeast Asia.

Genetic Evidence Connects Ancient Burials to Living Communities

Researchers sequenced genomes from 11 individuals recovered from cliffside and hanging-log coffin sites in what are now Yunnan and Fujian provinces. Some of the remains date to as much as 2,000 years old. Genetic analysis indicates these individuals are ancestral to the Bo people, a Tai–Kadai-speaking group with several thousand descendants still living in Yunnan.

Archaeology, History and Cultural Context

Field reports and historical sources describe how communities placed wooden coffins in crevices on exposed cliffs, often using scaffolding, ropes or purpose-built trails to raise them into position. A chronicler writing during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) noted that hanging coffins were "considered auspicious" and recorded a belief that "the higher they are, the more propitious they are for the dead," while oddly adding that coffins falling to the ground were sometimes seen as a sign of good fortune.

Regional Spread and Comparative Practices

Additional remains examined by the authors and other teams suggest the Bo people's ancestors once occupied territories that now form parts of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. Genetic evidence from hanging-log coffins found in Thailand supports the idea that this funerary practice spread southward from southern China as groups migrated into Southeast Asia.

Cliffside interment is not unique to China. In the Philippines, the Kankanaey people of Sagada place small, fetal-position coffins on rock faces, reflecting a belief that the deceased should leave the world as they entered it. In Indonesia, the Toraja used shaped cliff coffins called erong, often accompanied by carved wooden effigies, until the mid-20th century.

Why This Matters

By combining ancient DNA analysis with archaeology and historical accounts, the new study clarifies both the people behind this striking mortuary practice and how cultural traditions can move and transform across regions. The results illustrate the value of interdisciplinary research for reconstructing past lifeways and migrations in East and Southeast Asia.

Sources: Nature Communications (study); Live Science; Phys.org; historical Yuan dynasty accounts.