Archaeologists have shined fresh light on the mystery behind China’s hanging coffins.
It seems there could be a direct genetic link between ancient practitioners of the hanging coffin burial tradition—which typically involves mounting them on cliff faces—and the modern Bo people in Southwest China.
This discovery by Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers and collaborators tells us more about the ancestral origins associated with the practice.
Hanging coffins have historically been ascribed to the ancient Bo ethnic group, believed to have disappeared after the Ming Dynasty that ruled from 1368 to 1644 and leaving questions about its history.
The team unearthed new information about the practice through comparative genomic analysis of 11 ancient individuals from four hanging coffin sites in China, four from log coffin sites in Thailand—typically placed inside caves or rock shelters—and 30 whole genomes from the contemporary Bo population.
“Our findings indicate that present-day Bo people derive a substantial proportion of their ancestry from practitioners of the hanging coffin mortuary tradition,” the study authors wrote in the paper.
Tracing it back further, both ancient and modern groups shared intimate genetic connections with coastal Neolithic populations in southern East Asia, the ancestors of modern Tai-Kadai and Austronesian language speakers.
“Unexpectedly, we also find evidence of long-range interactions and cultural inclusivity between Northeast Asian and Yellow River farmers and hanging coffin communities over 1,200 years ago,” the authors added.
This suggests long-distance interactions and cultural inclusiveness during the Tang Dynasty, according to the researchers.
“Finally, shared genetic components between hanging (log) coffin populations in China and Thailand point to a common origin and a broader genetic and cultural network underlying this distinctive mortuary tradition across southern China and Southeast Asia.”
Their study suggests genomic evidence is a valuable tool alongside archaeological and historical records.
While the authors emphasize their study has made “significant strides in understanding the genetic and cultural history of the hanging Coffin custom and Bo people,” they acknowledged some limitations.
These include the fact they couldn’t present historical profiles for the earliest hanging Coffin communities from the Mount Wuyi region and other relevant sites in island Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“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.”
Newsweek has reached out to the researchers for additional comment.
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Reference
Zhou, H., Tao, L., Zhao, Y., He, H., Shi, H., Yu, T., Guo, Y., He, Y., Liu, H., Wu, Y., Cao, J., Kuang, Z., Wu, S., Lin, F., Yang, Y., Xiong, L., Liu, Y., Zhu, K., Xu, Y., … Zhang, X. (2025). Exploration of hanging coffin customs and the bo people in China through comparative genomics. Nature Communications, 16(1), 10230. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65264-3