For millennia, an ethnic group in what's now southwest China placed their dead in "hanging coffins" on cliffsides, but their identity has long eluded researchers. Now, a new genetic study reveals that this ancient funeral tradition was carried out by ancestors of people who still live in the region today.
The researchers also found genetic links between the ancient people who practiced "hanging coffin" tradition — in which ancient wooden coffins were pegged onto exposed cliffs — and Neolithic ("New Stone Age") people who lived on the coasts of southern China and Southeast Asia.
