Mummification in the Philippines

Mummification is a process of preserving a deceased human. Mummies are classified based on the method and the medium of preservation.

The Philippines is an island nation in Southeast Asia where mummification was practiced until the arrival of the Spanish. The caves containing the mummies were untouched until the 19th century (Project: Kabayan Mummy Caves).

The heat and humidity of the islands made mummification difficult to perform in much of the Philippines. However, widespread practice of the mummification existed in Benguet and in the higher and cooler altitudes of the Cordilleras.

Studying the mummies reveals information about the rituals, beliefs, and social structure of the tribes that practiced mummification. For instance, mummification was intended for leaders and individuals that are from the higher social ranks of the tribe (UNESCO).

Fire Mummies of Kabayan

In Northern Luzon, mummification is prevalent in Cordillera, specifically in Benguet, Ifugao, and Mt Province. The most well known is the Fire Mummies in Kabayan, Benguet. There are over 200 mummies located in Timbak cave and these were made by the Ibaloi tribe between 1200 CE and 1500 CE (Project: Kabayan Mummy Caves).

The process of mummification makes the Fire Mummies unique and popular. Tribe members would administer salty water to the dying member. Ingestion of the saline solution results to a shift in extracellular water into the intestinal lumen that triggers peristalsis. The laxative effect expels water and any remaining feces in the colon. This results to a substantial depletion of intestinal bacteria, delaying onset of tissue-destructive enzymatic processes (Aufderheide, 2003). The process was identified as being parallel to the Egyptians who placed their corpse in a tub of salt to dehydrate the body (Rabang, 2013). After death, the corpse will be cleansed, rubbed with herbs, and tobacco smoke was then smoked into the mouth of the corpse, with a low fire lit beside the body to enhance dehydration and prevent insect infestation. The body was positioned as though seated on a “death chair” and a scarf or blanket was used to secure the position. The epidermis is peeled off by the community elders and juice from the leaves of local plants were applied (Piombino-Mascali, Abinion, Salvador-Amores, & Beckett, 2013). The process would take from months to years then after that, the mummy would be placed in wood coffins and buried in caves (Fire Mummies of the Philippines).

Due to the mummification process of the dead, features, such as the tattoos, were preserved excellently. Appo Annu, one of the mummies found, had remarkably preserved tattoo details. Studies on the tattoos of Appo Annu have been done, and one suggestion was that Appo Annu, aside from being a trible leader, must have been a hunter (Rabang, 2013). Amores, a UP professor of social anthropology, states that the patterns were “kin-based and had social and collective meanings among the Ibaloy”.

Site Conservation

Of the many caves identified to contain fire mummies, only a few had been found with human remains and it is suspected that the locals are unwilling to disclose the actual locations of other mummies because of widespread looting by private collectors and some locals who use the nails and fingers as talismans (Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog). One of the most famous of the mummies is an intricately tattooed body of a tribal leader named ApoAnnu. The mummy was stolen from the cave in 1906 which wound up as part of the Manila circus (Rabang, 2013). In 1984, the mummy, then in the hands of an antique collector, was donated to the National museum, and was recently returned to his burial cave in Benguet (Kabayan Mummies).

The Kabayan Mummy cave is proclaimed under Presidential Decree No. 327 (PD 327) as part of the Philippine National Cultural Treasures, which states that preservation, protection, and maintenance of the site be ensured for the future generation as a manifestation and ingenuity associated with the religious belief of the Ibaloi culture and tradition (UNESCO).

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