Thailand Coffin Caves

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Thailand Coffin Caves

In the heat of the mid morning sun, I find myself hiking up the face of a rocky, densely covered jungle hill, careful with each step, trying to avoid the jagged sharp rock edges that make me keenly aware of my surroundings. The rocks jut like paring knives in some areas and my hands already feel the sting of several small cuts from a single misstep.

The air is clean and clear here, but in the distance, the hills are obscured from smoke drifting across the burning fields; farmers preparing the soil for the next crop which will be planted as the rains arrive in the coming month. When the wind shifts direction , I xan smell the smoke. It reminds me of my years in Costa Rica and the sweet smoke from fields of sugar cane set ablaze at harvest time.

I feel the sun winnowing its way through the forest canopy above. Even through the towering foliage, the sun manages to burn the back of my head, as I keep my eyes focused on the ground in front of me. I was told to prepare for spelunking and narrow cave exploration. Bringing a cap never crossed my mind.

I’m part of a very small group, invited to be among the first “non archaeologist” civilians to enter the Iron Age cave coffin burial site of Long Long Rak. The burial chambers, hidden at the end of long and narrow tunnels are the final resting place for hundreds of ancient humans, buried for over four centuries starting two thousand years ago in forty wood coffins.

The scientists know the details of the coffins, the artifacts buried alongside the remains and every conceivable theory about how these coffins were built and transported down long, impossibly small and narrow tunnels. They have DNA samples from the hair and bones and are beginning to understand more about these people and their lifestyles.

I’m here to probe the mysteries of why these ancient peoples went to such extreme measures to preserve their loved ones in these extraordinary funerary caves.

As the ambient temperature exceeds the point of comfort and the air is still, we arrive at the entrance to a subterranean cave and a cool breeze washes over us. I’m hot and sweaty and in the early stages of regretting my decision to wear tight jeans.

Our guides, a team of PhD scientists and researchers in archaeology, pass some incense sticks to me. We light them and place them on a small altar platform with candies and flowers brought as offerings for the ancient spirits and to appease the gods to ensure a safe passage through the caves. The traditional ways run deep here.

About 2100 years ago in the highlands of Pang Mapha, in Northern Thailand, Iron Age peoples began to bury their dead relatives in large wooden coffins, tucking them inside difficult to reach internal chambers inside 40 different caves in this region.

The Log Coffin culture reflects a distinctive mortuary practice in Southeast Asia. Coffins were cut from single teak trees and have distinct carvings at the head and foot ends, which may reflect societal beliefs, the status of the deceased, the skill of the coffin’s maker, or indicate family or clan cemeteries.

Other artifacts recovered from these caves include pottery sherds and faunal remains, as well as iron tools and bronze objects. A weaving dart was included near a woman’s body: likely the one she used to weave fabric. It was laid beside her, perhaps as a personal memento, or in the hope that she might use it in her next life.

We cannot know how these ancient people thought or what they believed, but we can make inferences about their lives based on the care they took to inter their loved ones. How we treat the dead reveals much about the living.

These caves were discovered and have been in the process of research and excavation for fifteen years. The site will soon be open for further exploration, and I feel fortunate to be among the first laypeople (aside from some looters) to lay eyes on this remarkable discovery.

We descend into the cave by way of a comfortable staircase. I am decidedly deceived by the ease of this entry. As I expected, the steps end and we continue our descent by a knotted rope, reaching a small antechamber...made even smaller by the collapse of a section of the ceiling thousands of years earlier. It smells like a less musty version of my grandmother’s root cellar. The air is still and dry. We switch on our headlamps and catch a glimpse of the long narrow tunnel, punctuated by millennia old stalactites that hang dangerously low.

My crouch is further reduced to kneeling. Eventually, I find myself sliding down this dark, narrow passage, inch by inch, on my back, careful not to move suddenly and find myself pierced by the business end of a ten thousand year old cave sword.

I’m not great in confined spaces, but the researchers think that I look like Dave Bautista from Guardians of the Galaxy, so so I do my utmost to stay cool and give off the adventure hero vibe. Dave would be proud.

After an arduously slow progression, the tunnel widens at last and I am able to stand. My pants and shirt are covered in a layer of ochre dirt that probably contains remnants from thousands of years of human deposits. I brush off the dirt as conscientiously as possible.

Rows of wooden coffins, more than 2,000 years old are laid out before me. My mind races, considering the difficulty it took for me to get into this space. How did these ancient peoples get these long wooden coffins through the narrow tunnel and into this space?

These questions still plague the researchers.

I stand in silence, mesmerized by the power of this place.

Why did they bury their dead in caves?
Why did they choose this place?
Why did they bury their dead with useful items?
Why did they remove the bodies after decay and then reinter the bones?
Why did they bury entire families together?
Why did they start?
Why did they stop?

The questions are unceasing.

We have ideas. We make comparisons to other cultures and we draw parallels. We propose theories. What we don’t have are answers.

I am here to provide a global cultural context to better understand possible theories. While answering these “whys” will give meaning and significance to what these incredible archaeologists have uncovered, there is no way of truly knowing.

We study, we learn, we share and we seek meaning in the past to help us understand ourselves.

We stand together talking, laughing and breathing deeply of this moment and this place. Before we leave, I ask everyone to turn off their headlamps: to be as those who came before us once were, in the uncertainty of the dark.

The chamber turns black as coal. In an instant, it becomes clear to me. We are the bearers of the light. We have the power to dispel the darkness.

It is only in darkness that we discover the power of the light.