A fire mummy of the Ibaloi people found in one of the caves in the Cordillera Mountains, Benguet Province near Kabayan. Luzon, Philippines.
Wikipedia: The Fire Mummies of the Philippines, also known as the Kabayan Mummies, Benguet Mummies, or Ibaloi Mummies, are a group of mummies found along the mountain slopes of Kabayan, a town in the northern part of the Philippines. They were made from as early as 2000 BCE. Today, they remain in natural caves and a museum in Kabayan. Scientists believe that the Fire Mummies were created by the Ibaloi between 1200 and 1500 CE in five towns in Benguet and buried in caves. Others believe that the process of mummification began in 2000 makes the Fire Mummies unique is their process of mummification. That mummification began shortly before a person died, where he would digest a very salty drink. After his death, his corpse was washed and set over a fire in a seated position, thus drying the fluids. Smoke from tobacco was blown into the mouth to dry the body's inside and internal organs. Eventually, herbs were rubbed into the body. Mummified bodies are then placed in a coffin made of pinewood and laid to rest in rock shelters, natural caves or man made burial niches. When the Fire Mummies were uncovered in the early 20th century by Westerners (the mummies have been known to local communities for hundreds of years), many of them were stolen, because the caves were mostly unprotected. Because of this, Monument Watch, a nonprofit organization, declared the site as one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world. After logging operations intensified in the area, the location of many caves became known. Unfortunately this has led to looting, as unconscientious visitors have been eager to leave their mark, including graffiti, on the Kabayan mummies. The Kabayan Mummies were listed in the 1998 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund. Funding through American Express was used for emergency conservation and the creation of a comprehensive management plan. Additionally, local authorities from surrounding municipalities collaborated in cultural awareness campai
Size: 6000px × 4000px
Location: Kabayan, Benguet Province, Luzon, Philippines
Photo credit: © Bert de Ruiter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: asia, asian, benguet, bert, burial, cave, caves, coffin, dark, de, dead, death, east, fire, grave, historic, historical, horizontal, ibaloi, indigenous, intact, interior, kabayan, landscape, luzon, mummies, mummification, mummy, open, opened, people, person, philippines, position, remains, ruiter, site, sitting, skeleton, skull, smoked, south, tradition, traditional, travel
