View source for Kabayan Mummies

{{Short description|Group of mummies located in Benguet, Philippines}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Kabayan Mummies
| native_name    =
| alternate_name = Benguet Mummy Caves, Ibaloi Mummy Caves
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| map_type       = Luzon mainland#Philippines
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| map_caption    = Location in [[Luzon]]##Location in the Philippines
| map_size       = 240
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| coordinates    = {{coord|16|33|N|120|45|E|dim:30_region:PH_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| location       = [[Kabayan, Benguet|Kabayan]], Benguet, Philippines
| region         =
| type           = Burial cave
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| management     = [[National Museum of the Philippines]]
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The '''Fire Mummies''', also known as the''' Kabayan Mummies''', Benguet Mummies, or [[Ibaloi people|Ibaloi]] Mummies, are a group of [[mummies]] found along the mountain slopes of  [[Kabayan, Benguet]], a town in the northern Philippines. They were made from as early as 2000 BCE. Today, they remain in natural caves as well as in a museum in Kabayan.

==Description==
Some scientists believe that the Fire Mummies were created by the [[Ibaloi people]] between 1200 and 1500 CE in five towns in [[Benguet]], and buried in caves. Others believe that they date back to as far as 2000 BCE.<ref name="made"/> What makes the Fire Mummies unique is their [[mummification]] process, which would begin shortly before a person died and consisted of ingesting a very salty drink. After death, the corpse was washed and set over a fire in a seated position, drying the fluids; smoke from [[tobacco]] was blown into the mouth to dry the body's internal organs. Eventually, herbs were rubbed into the body.<ref name="making">{{cite web |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fire-mummies-of-the-philippines |title=Fire Mummies of the Philippines |author=Dylan |author2=Treeswithknees |author3=Nicholas Jackson |website=Atlas Obscura |access-date=21 February 2014}}</ref> Mummified bodies were then placed in a coffin made of [[pine wood]] and laid to rest in rock shelters, natural caves, or artificial burial niches.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/2070/|title = Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves|access-date = 13 September 2014|publisher = UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}</ref><ref name="made">{{cite web|url=http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/group/kabayan.htm |title=Kabayan Mummies |website=Mummy Tombs |access-date=21 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001028161032/http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/group/kabayan.htm |archive-date=28 October 2000 }}</ref>

===Discovery===
When the Fire Mummies were uncovered by Westerners in the early 20th century, (they had been known to local communities for hundreds of years), many of them were [[Grave robbery|stolen]], as the caves were mostly unprotected. They were listed in the [[1998 World Monuments Watch]] by the [[World Monuments Fund]] and declared one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paperdue.com/essay/Fire-Mummies-of-the-6468 |title=Fire Mummies of the Philippines |author=Paperdue |date=November 2010 |website=PaperDue.com |access-date=22 February 2014}}</ref> Funding from [[American Express]] was used for emergency conservation and the creation of a comprehensive management plan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wmf.org/project/kabayan-mummy-caves |website=World Monuments Fund |title=Kabayan Mummy Caves |access-date=21 February 2014}}</ref>

The mummies remain in natural caves with relatively minor security. Officials claim to be aware of another 50–80 artifacts, whose locations they have chosen to keep secret. A small museum in [[Kabayan, Benguet|Kabayan]] also displays a few mummies.<ref name="making"/>

===National Museum-Kabayan===
In May 2024, the [[National Museum of the Philippines]] announced a PHP25 million rehabilitation of National Museum-Kabayan's Site 1, home to several female mummies. The site houses a [[Geology|geological collection]] and [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] on local death rites and rituals, mummies, plants used in the mummification process, and Kabayan-[[Ibaloi people|Ibaloi]] items. The museum also conserves and protects the Timbac burial caves and the mummy rocks, including the "Apo Anno" mummy, a revered ancestor, in [[Buguias, Benguet]].<ref>{{cite news |last1= Agoot|first1= Liza |title=P25-M museum rehab to boost Benguet town's tourism|url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1223925 |accessdate=7 May 2024 |work=[[Philippine News Agency]] |date=2 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Alimondo |first1=Lauren |title=Kabayan cave still closed|url=https://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/local-news/kabayan-cave-still-closed |accessdate=7 May 2024 |publisher= [[SunStar]]|date=18 November 2019}}</ref>

==Declarations==
The Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves are listed as National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum of the Philippines, pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 260, signed by President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] in August 1973.<ref>{{cite web |title=Presidential Decree No. 260, s. 1973 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/08/01/presidential-decree-no-260-s-1973/ |website=[[Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines]] |access-date=11 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917063451/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/08/01/presidential-decree-no-260-s-1973/ |archive-date=17 September 2017 |date=1 August 1973}}</ref> They are also under consideration as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[List of World Heritage Sites in the Philippines]]
* [[List of World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia]]
* [[List of World Heritage Sites]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Carascal |first1=Mark B. |last2=Fontanilla |first2=Ian Kendrich C. |last3=De Ungria |first3=Maria Corazon A. |title=The Ibaloi fire mummies: the art and science of mummification in the Philippines |journal=Anthropological Science |date=2021 |volume=129 |issue=2 |pages=197–202 |doi=10.1537/ase.210422 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase/129/2/129_210422/_html/-char/ja |lang=en|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |first1=Colin |last1=Amery |first2=Brian |last2=Curran |first3=Harry |last3=Abrams |title=Vanishing Histories |publisher=Book News, Inc |page=107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s95OAAAAMAAJ |date=1 November 2001|isbn=9780810914353 }}
* {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mFY1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=eCUMAAAAIBAJ&dq=kabayan%20world-monuments&pg=2979%2C23237414 |first=Walter |last=Ang |title=The Mummy – that Brendan Fraser didn't see |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |pages=E4}}

==External links==
* [http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/ASBMD/Kabayan.html Kabayan Branch, National Museum of the Philippines] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330211357/http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/ASBMD/Kabayan.html |date=30 March 2016 }}

{{Mummies|state=collapsed}}
{{World Heritage Sites in the Philippines|state=collapsed}}
{{National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Mummies]]
[[Category:Culture of Benguet]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Benguet]]
[[Category:World Heritage Tentative List for the Philippines]]
[[Category:Death and funerary practices in the Philippines]]