The Kabayan Fire Mummies

The Ibaloi peoples of the Philippines had one of the most elaborate burial practices worldwide, a process that resembled cooking a meal more than it resembled burial, but could take up to two years. For thousands of years the tombs of these remnants were hidden from the world until in the 1970s a logging crew stumbled upon caves packed with egg shaped wooden containers. Inside the containers were some of the creepiest preserved corpses around. Welcome to the Kabayan Burial Caves…

As the full process of mummification took up to two years of intensive ritual practice and herbal preparation, the Kabayan Fire Mummies were generally only the deceased from the absolute highest spectrum of the Ibaloi social ladder. Using salt and herbs, the bodies of the deceased would be prepared both internally and externally using a mixture of salt and herbs. Once properly marinated the bodies were placed under a fire allowing low heat to cure the flesh and drain the body of all fluids. After two years of this process the bones of the newly made mummy would be pliable enough to be contorted into a tight fetus position and squeezed into a small pinewood coffin resembling an egg.

Read more here;

http://www.travelcreepster.com/kabayan-fire-mummies.html#.UgZQAtI3vpx

http://www.chauvetdreams.co.uk/9000-year-old-de-fleshing-ritual-revealed-philippines/

The Kabayan Fire Mummies