DNA Connects Modern Bo People to Ancient Cliffside 'Hanging Coffins,' New Study Finds

Perched on sheer rock faces across parts of southern China and Southeast Asia, weathered wooden coffins carved from tree trunks have long fascinated visitors and local communities. Known as "hanging coffins," these cliffside burials were traditionally associated with the enigmatic Bo people of southwest China, whose funerary practices sparked myths that they could soar or live among cliffs.

The mystery of whether today's Bo are direct descendants of those interred in hanging coffins has now been addressed by a multi-disciplinary study combining archaeology, anthropology and genomics. Researchers sequenced ancient DNA from remains recovered at hanging-coffin sites in Yunnan, Guangxi and Thailand and compared those genomes to living residents of She De Village, a small Bo community in southeastern Yunnan.

Genetic Links and Ancestral Origins

The genetic analysis revealed a clear connection: modern Bo from She De Village share close ancestry with the ancient individuals recovered at the Yunnan sites. Most coffin-associated people in southwest China trace much of their ancestry to coastal populations of southeastern China, with roots in a mixture of Iron Age Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherers, Yangtze River farming communities and populations from the Yellow River basin. Some coffin individuals also carried ancestry from northern (Northeast) Asian groups, indicating broader regional contact and movement than previously recognized.

Culture, Chronology and Continuity

Archaeological evidence and historical records point to long-standing ritual traditions. A Yuan Dynasty chronicle, The Brief Chronicles of Yunnan (1279–1368 C.E.), noted the auspiciousness of placing coffins high on cliffs: "Coffins set high are considered auspicious. The higher they are the more propitious for the dead." Ritual objects such as copper plates—interpreted as representations of the soul and later used in cave burials—appear in contexts extending into the Ming period, consistent with documentary reports that the practice declined toward the end of the 16th century.

After integrating genetic, archaeological and anthropological data, the research team proposed that the hanging-coffin custom likely originated among coastal communities in southeastern China roughly 3,000 years ago and subsequently spread southward and westward across diverse cultural zones. Additional sites dated to about 1,200 years ago show evidence of population movement from southern China into northwestern Thailand, supporting the genetic picture of mobility and exchange.

“From this region, the practice spread to other parts of China, eventually moving southward and westward across various cultural zones,” the study authors wrote in Nature Communications. “Further exploration with additional human remains and archaeological content from these regions, incorporating interdisciplinary scientific perspectives, could contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the history of suspended wooden coffin burial customs in the future.”

Language Links and Living Legacy

Genetically, the Bo are most closely related to living speakers of Tai‑Kadai and Austronesian languages in East and Southeast Asia—language families that include Thai, Lao and many Austronesian tongues that originated in Taiwan and spread through Island Southeast Asia, Madagascar and Oceania. Today a small Bo community survives in the mountains of southeastern Yunnan; the cliffside coffins and the cultural memory they embody remain visible reminders of deep, regional connections in both culture and biology.

What This Means: The new genetic evidence strengthens the link between present-day Bo people and ancient hanging-coffin communities, revealing a complex tapestry of migration, interaction and cultural continuity across East and Southeast Asia over the past several millennia.