These Smoked Human Remains May be the Oldest Mummies Known to Science
Researchers have discovered what they believe to be the earliest evidence of artificial mummification known to science, pushing back the timeline for the burial ritual to far before the time of the ancient Egyptians. Hunter-gatherers in Southeast Asia who lived some 20,000 and 4,000 years ago buried their dead in tightly crouched or squatting positions. Not only that, but these communities also practiced a form of mummification that involved drying out the human remains over a fire, as research