Exploration of hanging coffin customs and the bo people in China through comparative genomics

Hui Zhou, Le Tao, Yinhui Zhao, Haifeng He, Hong Shi, Tengsong Yu, Yaozheng Guo, Yaoxi He, Hong Liu, Yun Wu, Jiayong Cao, Zhenyu Kuang, Shifeng Wu, Fuchun Lin, Yundong Yang, Lifeng Xiong, Yilan Liu, Kongyang Zhu, Yu Xu, Shengmin Huang, Xiaomin Yang, Rui Wang, Baitong Wang, Xian Wang, Wen-Jing Lu, Wibhu Kutanan, Rasmi Shoocongdej, Bing Su, Chuan-Chao Wang (), Xueping Ji () and Xiaoming Zhang ()
Additional contact information
Hui Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Le Tao: Fudan University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Center for Evolutionary Biology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences
Yinhui Zhao: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Haifeng He: Xiamen University, School of Life Sciences
Hong Shi: Kunming University of Science and Technology, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine
Tengsong Yu: Zhaotong Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology
Yaozheng Guo: Youjiang Nationalities Museum
Yaoxi He: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Hong Liu: Yunnan University, Institute of Geography
Yun Wu: Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Jiayong Cao: Zhaotong Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology
Zhenyu Kuang: Zhaotong Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology
Shifeng Wu: Weixin Institute of Cultural Relics
Fuchun Lin: Zhaotong Museum
Yundong Yang: Qiubei Institute of Cultural Relics
Lifeng Xiong: Yunnan Provincial Museum
Yilan Liu: Xiamen University, School of Life Sciences
Kongyang Zhu: Xiamen University, School of Life Sciences
Yu Xu: Xiamen University, School of Life Sciences
Shengmin Huang: Nanning Normal University, Key Laboratory of Environment Change and Resources Use in Beibu Gulf
Xiaomin Yang: Xiamen University, Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, Institute of Anthropology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Bioanthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology
Rui Wang: Fudan University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Center for Evolutionary Biology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences
Baitong Wang: Xiamen University, Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, Institute of Anthropology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Bioanthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology
Xian Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Wen-Jing Lu: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Wibhu Kutanan: Naresuan University, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Rasmi Shoocongdej: Silpakorn University, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology
Bing Su: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Chuan-Chao Wang: Fudan University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Center for Evolutionary Biology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences
Xueping Ji: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Integrative Anthropology, Kunming Institute of Zoology
Xiaoming Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The Hanging Coffin represents a distinctive mortuary tradition practiced across southern China, Southeast Asia (e.g., the Log Coffin), and the Pacific approximately 3,000 years. Historical records attribute this funerary practice to the Bo people, a group that largely disappeared from documented history by the end of the Ming Dynasty (1,368–1,644 AD). Here we report eleven ancient genomes from four Hanging Coffin sites in China, alongside thirty whole genomes from the extant Bo people in Southwest China. We also sequence four ancient genomes from Log Coffin sites in northwestern Thailand. Our findings indicate that present-day Bo people derive a substantial proportion of their ancestry from practitioners of the Hanging Coffin mortuary tradition. Both ancient and modern groups exhibit elevated genetic affinity with coastal Neolithic populations from southern East Asia, who are ancestral to Tai-Kadai and Austronesian 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. 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.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65264-3

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