Oldest Mummy on Record Found in Vietnam

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This middle-aged woman, found in a tightly flexed position in southern China, was smoke-dried prior to burial. Together with many other individuals discovered in southern China and Southeast Asia, she provides some of the earliest known evidence of mummification in human history, dating back more than 10,000 years.

When we think of mummies, we usually think of mummies in Egypt, like the ones you’d find in a pyramid. In Egypt they were embalmed (dissecting body parts that would rot and putting chemicals on the body to keep it from going bad and putting it in tomb) which is very different than what they would do in other countries like Vietnam and southeast Asia, where they would smoke dry the bodies for mummification. In Vietnam they would preserve the bodies for display in temples and museums.

According to an article published by CNN on September 16, 2025, the oldest mummy we know of was found in Vietnam. There was no more than a scorched arm bone. The bone is predicted to be 14,000 years old, which is taking 1st place for oldest mummy bone; it might be in the Guinness book of world records! A man named Alex Wilshaw is responsible for finding the arm bone of this extraordinary mummy.