In the cliffs above the rivers of southern Sichuan, around three hundred wooden coffins have been…

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]In the cliffs above the rivers of southern Sichuan, around 300 wooden coffins have been hanging from the rock face for up to 2,000 years.

[00:00:09]They were placed there by the Bo, an ethnic minority who lived in what is now southern China from at least the 4th century before Christ. The coffins are wedged into natural fissures, set on wooden stakes driven into the cliff, or laid in shallow carved caves. Some are over 100 m above the ground. The Bo carried their dead up there for 2,000 years. In the year 1573, the Ming Dynasty launched a military campaign against them. Within a decade, the Bo were effectively destroyed as a people. The coffins remained.

[00:00:44]Archaeologists still do not agree on how they were placed. The only ones who knew are no longer there to tell us.