Upon googling “strange funerary rituals”, I came across the very alternative method of hanging coffins which was practiced by a group in China known as the Bo people. Before I get into the practice of hanging human remains from trees, I will gloss over about 2500 years of a rich cultural tradition and history.
According to very unofficial sources, the Bo – or “Sons of the Cliff1” – were an ethnic minority group which began to flourish approximately 3000 BP2. The Bo and their ancestors continued to flourish until approximately 400 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. Most unfortunately for the Bo – and indeed other ethnic minority groups of the time – the imperial army oppressed and massacred their people, and ultimately forced the group into fleeing the area and hiding their identities forever2.
On a less depressing note, archaeologists have been fortunate to uncover 300 or so of these mysterious coffins in Gongxian County of southwest China's Sichuan province3. The coffins are found some 300 feet high along cliff sides; some are placed into niches along the cliff wall, while others are balanced on logs jutting out from notches in the cliff1. Some coffins are found to have murals painted on them depicting – presumably – the lives of the individual found in the coffin1.
What I think is really cool about this practice is the fact that the communities would have had to somehow carry these (400 lbs) coffins up a cliff, and plan out how and where to place it. Clearly there was something very significant to these people about elevated burial. Unfortunately, the cultural knowledge of the Bo disappeared with them during the Ming Dynasty so it is unlikely that archaeologists will ever be able to uncover the origin or meaning behind this ritual.
One modern explanation for how the coffins were placed is the theory that the – enormously heavy and awkward – coffins were lowered down the rock face with ropes. This would certainly make the job of getting the coffin to its destination less difficult than scaling a cliff with a coffin strapped to you!
Another point of interest is obviously why this was done. Some modern theories include:
1. To create a ladder of sorts to aid in climbing cliffs2 (This sounds like something someone who spent the majority of their life in a box, secluded from religion, art and ritual might come up with! In other words, I think that this could have been an eventual function for the coffins, but it seems unlikely that this was the original purpose. Kind of morbid to plan for your Grandma to be placed in a cliff as the fifth rung, no?)
2. The highly elevated coffins may have been considered as a lucky or auspicious locations2. (I like this idea better than the first as it tries to bring a cultural symbolic element into the ritual. People don’t just do difficult things consistently for the hell of it; there must be some reason – practical or symbolic – for elevating the coffins)
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