Mysterious Giant Wooden Coffins Found On Stilts Dating Back 2,300 Years
The discovery in some caves of Thailand
The highlands of northwestern Thailand are dotted with dozens of caves that house some extremely curious human burials from the ancient past. These consist of large wooden coffins—often several meters long and carved from a single tree trunk—mounted above the ground on wooden stilts.
The approximately 40 burial sites are the work of a mysterious Iron Age culture that inhabited Mae Hong Son province in northern Thailand between 2,300 and 1,000 years ago.
In a recent study, archaeologists have genetically profiled 33 ancient people buried at five sites of the Log Coffin culture and traced their ancestry, shedding light on the complex genetic landscape of mainland Southeast Asia after the Stone Age.
Previous studies based on individual people or single sites indicated that this culture was related to the farmers of the Yangtze River valley in southern China and the local Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherer societies.
The new study provides a deeper insight into this relationship by examining dozens of individuals from numerous sites. Analysis suggests that the agricultural part of their genome can indeed be further divided into two groups: one linked to the Yangtze River valley and another to the Yellow River valley in China.
Culturally speaking, it is difficult to understand the precise significance of the extremely long log coffins of ancient Thailand. Why would an Iron Age culture go to such lengths to elevate the long coffins on stilts? Was it a practical concern or did it have some spiritual value? The new study does not delve deeply into these questions, merely noting: "The coffins were cut from a single tree and feature distinct carvings at the head and foot ends, which may reflect social beliefs, the status of the deceased, the skill of the coffin maker, or indicate family or clan cemeteries. However, it is evident that other ancient cultures in mainland Southeast Asia have similar traditions."
Over 170 boat-shaped coffins have been recovered from 44 different archaeological sites in neighboring Vietnam, widely attributed to the Dong Son culture that lived in the region from 1000 BCE to the 1st century CE. Vietnam's cultural relics are typically grouped with European boat burials, in which the deceased—usually those with high social status or warrior credentials—are buried in the hull of a ship as if being sent on a journey to the afterlife.
Over 2,000 years ago there was a significant amount of migration and intermixing in Southeast Asia. Given this interconnectedness, it is not surprising that both genetic and cultural information was transmitted.
The study is published at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44328-2
