12,000-Year-Old Evidence Reveals Smoke-Drying Mummies Preceded Egypt’s Pyramids

12,000-Year-Old Evidence Reveals Smoke-Drying Mummies Preceded Egypt’s Pyramids

The process of mummification is often associated with the tombs of Ancient Egypt or the dry deserts of Chile. Many people frequently assume that the origin of this burial practice also traces back to these cultures. A new study in PNAS challenges these assumptions by suggesting that the people of southern China and Southeast Asia developed a different approach to this practice by curing bodies over low, smoky fires. Archaeologists recently uncov…