The secrets of ancient Thai log coffins in northwestern Thailand

Many are unaware that the highlands of northwestern Thailand harbour dozens of caves, which serve as the final resting places for remarkable human burials dating back 1,000 to 2,300 years ago.

These burials consist of large wooden coffins, some several metres long and crafted from a single tree trunk, mounted above the floor on wooden stilts, reflecting a mysterious Iron Age culture that once thrived in the Mae Hong Son province of northern Thailand.

In a groundbreaking new study, archaeologists conducted a genetic profile of 33 ancient individuals buried at five Log Coffin culture sites, shedding light on the complex genetic landscape of mainland South East Asia after the Stone Age. The study, spearheaded by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, not only traced back the ancestries of these individuals but also…