Image Credit: Zhaotong Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics

Ancient Hanging Coffin People Identified as Ancestors of Bo people

Researchers have finally identified the mysterious people behind China’s ancient “hanging coffins”, a dramatic funerary tradition in which wooden coffins were placed high on cliff faces. A new genetic study shows that the individuals buried in these suspended coffins were ancestors of the modern Bo people, who still live in southwest China today.
The study, published in Nature Communications, analyzed DNA from 11 ancient individuals recovered from several hanging-coffin sites in China, some dating back more than 2,000 years. Researchers also examined ancient remains from log-coffin burials in Thailand, and compared them to 30 genomes from living people of Bo descent.
The results reveal that the ancient coffin-burial communities shared deep genetic roots with Neolithic populations of southern China and Southeast Asia dating back 4,000–4,500 years. This confirms a long-suspected cultural continuity that extends across modern borders.
Hanging coffins were once widespread in southern China, Taiwan, and parts of Southeast Asia. The practice faded during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), although early written records from the Yuan dynasty praised high-placed coffins as spiritually auspicious.
Today, only a few thousand Bo people remain in Yunnan province. Although officially classified under the Yi ethnic group, they maintain distinct traditions — and new evidence shows their ancestors practiced the spectacular cliff-burial custom.
The DNA also revealed striking similarities between the Chinese hanging-coffin burials and the log-coffin burials in Thailand, suggesting shared ancestry and cultural links across the region. Archaeologists believe the tradition likely began at least 3,400 years ago in the Wuyi Mountains of southeastern China, and was practiced by early Tai-Kadai–speaking populations, who once occupied much of southern China before Han expansion.
Local folklore once referred to the Bo as the “Sons of the Cliffs” and even claimed they could “fly,” inspired by their dramatic cliff burials. Now, genetics confirms the legend: the Bo are the direct descendants of the people who created these ancient hanging-coffin graves — reconnecting a long-lost cultural identity nearly 600 years after the tradition vanished.

Published on: 03-12-2025

Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie

Source: Live Science