Solving the Mystery of the Philippines' Fire Mummies _ Our History

When we think of mummies, we usually think of Egyptian deserts or the arid heights of the Andes. But mummies are sometimes found in tropical lands too, like the ones here in the Philippines. They were created by a tribe called the Ibaloi, and until the 1960s, they were largely unknown to the outside world. The Ibaloi still live in the Cordillera mountain range of northern Luzon. Little is known about their methods or their motives, but they may have placed hundreds of mummies in caves in these mountains. And new ones are discovered all the time, often by accident. A logger named Dorino Olat was working on the steep hillsides when he made an amazing find, an isolated cave sheltering two wooden coffins. My friends and I were doing some work on top of this rock. When we saw the cave, we came down, and then we saw these two coffins. We went in and tried to open one of the lids, and we saw the mummy, so we left. The next day, we came back and put this cross on the rock as a marker that this was where we had seen the mummy. As a member of the Ibaloi, Dorino shares his people's respect for the mummies. But he knows they're in danger. Many of them have been stolen by looters and sold to collectors around the world. So Dorino and the tribal elders reached out to the one man who could help save them. Orlando Abignan is an anthropologist and curator at the Philippine National Museum in Manila, and the world's leading expert on the Ibaloi mummies. Well, the ancient people here, they are the Ibaloi tribe, and it is their practice of preserving the dead by mummification. So they believe that once a person is mummified, all the good traits of the person will be left behind with the living or with their descendants. By keeping their ancestors close, the Ibaloi believe they can be assured of prosperity and protection for their villages. It's no wonder they're reluctant to reveal the locations of their mummies and unwilling to part with them. After nearly two decades of research, Orlando has been able to study fewer than 50 of them. The newly discovered mummies will give him a rare opportunity to examine an undisturbed tomb. It's well worth the long trek north. But before he heads into the mountains, Orlando wants to take an inside look at a mummy, and that's something that can best be done here at a clinic in the provincial capital, Baguio City. External evidence allows him to place a mummy in the context of time. The fabric clinging to the body is made of bark, not cotton. So Orlando believes it's at least 500 years old, from a time before cotton cloth was brought to the Philippines. With x-rays, Orlando can peer inside the body without damaging it, so he can learn more about the people who were mummified, details of their health and their age at the time of death. Now Orlando can confirm that this was a woman who was about 35 when she died. But with the x-ray images of her skull, it's possible to give this mummy a face. And by seeing how her features are different from today's Ibaloi, Orlando can turn back the hands of time and peer into the tribe's distant past. George, I need to ask you... Orlando sends the x-rays to Sharon Long, a forensic artist specializing in facial reconstruction who's based in Laramie, Wyoming. Working with physical anthropologist Dr. George Gill of the University of Wyoming, Sharon begins the painstaking process of resurrecting the dead. The first step is to use the x-rays to build an accurate skull of plaster. Yeah, it seems as though you're coming in about the right degree from the most lateral point on the skull, it looks to me. Yeah. What do you think of that? But I mean, the x-ray doesn't lie. No, that's absolutely the way she is. You've got that proportion very well worked out. Okay. Now Sharon can begin to find the face that once covered these bare bones. Markers establish the depth of tissue based on age and race and the contours of the bones. Sharon normally uses these techniques to identify murder victims from their skeletal remains. This time she's bringing a mummy back to life. The feeling is exciting because I know that I'm about to solve a mystery of what this person looks like and I can sort of see them. You know, I can sort of see on the skull that the noses will be this big and that big, but I want to make my hands move as fast as I can because it's so intriguing. I usually do a lot of research so I know something about the background of the people or the clothes they were wearing, their hairstyles. And so then I can't wait to hurry up and put the face on so I can put the eyes in and get the hair on and say, whoa, look at that. Back in the Philippines, Orlando Abignon begins the long journey to examine the new cave discovered by Dorino Olat. With a small research team, he loads up and heads out. He'll soon leave the noise and traffic of the city behind. Entering the countryside is like traveling back in time. Though it's less than a hundred miles, the journey will take more than six hours over remote mountain passes into the homeland of the Ibaloi. It's not an easy trip. Four-wheel drive is essential, but even their vehicle gets a real workout. The route is often more rut than road. Orlando is the leading expert on the Ibaloi mummies, but the museum can't afford to send him out very often. So he takes advantage of this trip to stop along the way and check up on burial sites he's examined before. First stop on his itinerary is Mount Timbak, which rises 8,000 feet above the valleys of Benguet province. A path along the ridgeline leads to a pair of caves filled with mummified remains. To protect the site from grave robbers, it's guarded by a caretaker named Mosi, who lives nearby. He makes sure that the iron gate stays in place. Before Orlando can do his work, the spirits must give their consent. A sacrifice will help persuade them. It's Mosi's job to prepare it, the food and drink of the ancestors. First comes a ceremonial toast of alcohol. Next, a chicken is killed so its blood can be sprinkled near the cave entrance. This offering is significant for the Ibaloi people because it is one way of asking permission on the spirit from the soul of the dead that we are going to disturb them. Without this ritual, Orlando could never enter the caves or touch the preserved bodies inside. In all, 22 mummies are enshrined in the two caves at Timbak. The local people won't allow them to be removed. They're afraid it will bring bad luck, so Orlando's research is limited to on-site inspections. The wooden coffins are simple oblong boxes with the ancient corpses curled up inside. In their dried state, the mummies weigh less than 20 pounds, but they are fragile. Orlando has assigned each one an inventory tag for identification. He checks the coffins carefully for damage from insects, which could undo centuries of preservation. The high humidity in the caves is another problem, speeding up the pace of decay. A few hours in the sun will help to dry the mummies. The bodies are actually in good shape, considering that the centuries haven't always been kind to them. Each one has its own story to tell. This mummy is black because there was a forest fire in this area, and, fortunately, this mummy is near the entrance of the cave. So this is just covered in smoke. These were all members of a single clan, laid to rest over the course of many generations. Orlando has grown especially fond of one mummy. It's the body of a little boy. Here's my baby. This is an eight-year-old baby boy, and a part of the one family here in this cave. So, how are you, my boy? Oh, you are wet now, so you need to be dried. See, you feel cold. Anyway, we'll be cleaning you, okay? Relax. Now I am going to count your teeth, if they are still complete. I know you have ten teeth. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Good, it's complete. Buried alongside the boy, in the same coffin, were his father and mother. They all apparently died around the same time, perhaps during an epidemic. The mother is too fragile to be moved now, but the father can join his son in the fresh air. He's in remarkable condition, one of the best preserved of all the Ibaloi mummies. Like many of them, his body is covered with an elaborate pattern of tattoos. It's a sign of his status among the Ibaloi. This is one of the most decorated mummies. You can see all the tattoos here, on the feet, then including here. Then it's all over the body. In Ibaloi culture, if a body is a well-decorated one, he is on a higher or a nobility class. So this must be one of the wealthy family here in this particular place. After the inspection is complete, the mummies are returned to their wooden coffins to be stored once again in their tomb. The Ibaloi wanted their loved ones to be accessible so they could visit with them occasionally. But not every visitor treats them with respect. One is missing a finger. The mummies are viewed here as objects of great power and it may have been taken as a talisman to bring good fortune. There were visitors before when this was not yet secured. People coming here and they were getting the fingernails as a good luck for them. We believe that having a part of the mummy will bring good luck or maybe for business, good business. Mosi, the caretaker, feels that the mummies are his personal responsibility. Sometimes people take the mummies' fingers or they take other parts of their bodies. I do my best to report the vandalism but it hurts me. So now I'm putting you back to your coffin. Goodbye and take care. Okay, I'll be back next month. As the mummies are returned to Timbak Cave, Orlando can only hope that the next time he visits they'll still be here. There's no guarantee. In spite of his best efforts, the odds are against him. Looters continue to break into the tombs, selling the bodies to collectors in Philippine cities and around the world. Ultimately, most of the stolen mummies end up in private collections in Europe or America, where few will see them and no one will honor them. They are reduced from objects of veneration to objects of art. But sometimes the stolen mummies come home. Just a few years ago, antiques dealers in Baguio City returned a pair of mummies to the Philippine government. It was a rare event. A stolen Ibaloi mummy recovered from the black market. But it was a bittersweet victory. With no way to trace the mummies' origins or the locations of their tombs, a proper reburial was impossible. Much of the scientific data that Orlando gathers depends on the context in which the mummies were buried, providing clues such as burial fabric and the design of the coffin. Removed from their tombs and detached from their community, the looted mummies are adrift in time. Still, the return of these mummies does raise public awareness. And that helps Orlando in his efforts to preserve the mummies and their sacred burial sites. Orlando and his team are getting closer to the newly discovered tomb, the one they've traveled all this way to see. But there are still a few more stops to make. After hours of tortured driving over switchback roads twisting through the high mountain passes, they reach the town of Cabellan, the center of the Ibaloi homeland. Cabellan is a rugged outpost, a real frontier town. It's still home to the Ibaloi, the descendants of the mummy makers. But as the modern world makes its presence felt, life here is changing and the old ways are fading from memory. The Ibaloi no longer practice mummification, but they still have a good idea of how it was done, from oral traditions and from the recollections of the tribe's oldest members. Orlando has been able to piece together the details of their techniques, the recipe for a mummy. It was reserved for the tribe's elite, their priests and leaders. The process is said to have begun even before death. The dying person drank large quantities of salt water to help dehydrate the tissues. The salt water also destroyed bacteria in the stomach. After death, the corpse was rubbed with a solution made by pounding the leaves of certain local plants. They contain oils and chemical compounds that help to dry out the skin and ward off pests. Later, the deceased was tied into a chair and hoisted up, suspended over a funeral pyre. The fire was not intended to burn the body, but to dry it out as the fluids drained from the remains. The fluids were considered sacred and they were collected and saved. The fires were kept burning for months, an expensive process that only the wealthy could afford. As the body continued to lose moisture, its weight dropped by as much as 70 percent and left the dehydrated tissues resistant to insects. This is what turned it into a mummy, curled up from drying in its seated posture. Not just the flesh, but the internal organs were dried too. An MRI reveals this distinctive feature of the Eboloi mummies. Unlike those of ancient Egypt, whose internal organs were removed and entombed separately, the Eboloi mummies still contain all their organs. In the MRI images, you can still see remnants of the brain, dried to a fraction of its original size. The Eboloi kept the body intact, out of respect for the dead. They believed the mummy was a sanctuary for the soul. Violating its integrity would disturb the spirit, leaving it homeless. In the 16th century, Catholic missionaries and the Spanish colonial rulers suppressed the old rituals and the practice began to die out. But it didn't completely disappear until the early 1900s. For today's young Eboloi, while mummification is no longer a part of their lives, it remains an important part of their cultural traditions. Orlando is a frequent visitor here in Cavallan. Because he's respectful of their customs, he's gained the trust and the friendship of the Eboloi. It's the only way he can do his work, studying and preserving their ancestors. In the heart of the town is another of the Eboloi's mysterious burial caves. A local resident named Baban Berong discovered it on his property back in the early 1970s. It's called Oktas Cave, and since it lies just beneath his house, Baban is able to keep a close watch over its contents. Inside are more than 300 skeletons. A few are intact, but most have been dismembered. The skulls are stacked on shelves overlooking vast piles of bones. Archaeologists believe the cave was used by poor Eboloi at the opposite end of the social scale from those who were mummified. Here we can see how the common folk were buried. No carved coffins, no burial shrouds, no tattoos to provide clues about who they were or how they lived. Like the mummy tombs, Oktas may contain members of a single clan interred here over the course of centuries. While their bodies may have disintegrated, their skeletal remains have been lovingly arranged and kept clean by their descendants. There was one mummy found in Oktas Cave, a mummified cat, dried and preserved just like the members of the upper class. It's reminiscent of the cat mummies found in Egyptian tombs. The Eboloi believe that it may have belonged to a childless couple who hoped it would keep them company in the afterlife. The hills around Kavayan are riddled with small caves and porous rock. They provide a variety of convenient burial sites. At a place called Tenongchol, a clear mountain stream rushes past a rock outcropping. Inside the massive rock, there are four small alcoves carved out by hand centuries ago. In these crypts, the Eboloi place 23 wooden coffins. Local officials won't allow Orlando to examine their contents. They're afraid it will anger the spirits. But it's clear that this tomb hasn't weathered the passage of time well. Once the rock provided a good resting place, solid shelter against rain and wind. But now it's accessible by road, exposed to intruders. When the location of a tomb like Tenongchol becomes known to outsiders, it's a target for graffiti, theft, and destruction. It really hurts me personally when I see the caves and the coffin that are vandalized. When we see that a coffin or even the burial ground is vandalized, with all those graffiti marks, we feel sad and we feel sorry because we feel that our mummies are really a human being. They were not respected by these people. All of the known mummy tombs are officially protected by the Philippine government as national cultural treasures. And the World Monument Fund has provided some money for restoration. But local resources are limited and it's too late to prevent the damage to tombs like this one. While looters and vandals are destroying the past, Sharon Long is slowly piecing it back together. Though her reconstruction is far from complete, she's beginning to get a feel for the personality behind the face. This is where you don't want to stop because once I fill this in and get her eyelids going, you know, she starts looking human. And the nostrils and the nose, you know, the blunt of the nose, she'll have a kind of a round, blunt nose and wide. And so then I don't want, I don't want to stop. I like to just keep moving right along. And then once I get the ears blocked on and her eyelids in and she starts looking human, I think, oh, OK, I can rest for a while. This person who was alive once, you've brought them back to life and you can say hi. It's just a matter of time before this mummy looks out on the world once again. Even with a real face, we'll still never know exactly who she was. That's true for most of the Ivaloi mummies whose identities have been lost with the passage of time. But there is one mummy whose name and story we can be certain of. He was Apo Ano and he was a very important person in the village of Nabilikong some 500 years ago. Apo Ano's mummified remains were stolen from his tomb around 1920. And from then on, the villagers believe they were cursed. They suffered through decades of drought, poor harvests, civil conflict. Finally, in 1984, a mummy was donated to the Museum of the Philippines. Village leaders recognized the tattoos on the museum's mummy and they were able to confirm that this was Apo Ano. Their missing ancestor. In an emotional ceremony, Apo Ano was returned to the people of Nabilikong and later restored to his own tomb. After his homecoming, the harvests improved and the local bandits disappeared. The villagers insist the credit belongs to Apo Ano. For the Ivaloi, the remains of their ancestors are a link to the past and still a part of their lives today. Now that Apo Ano is back in his tomb, they can practice the old customs, bringing him out for brief visits with the living. Local villagers come to pay their respects and the children can learn about their illustrious ancestor. Apo Ano could be a great warrior because you can see at the back, it is an engraving. You can see in this portion, this is very small. This is a symbol that he is a great warrior. And also, as a hunter, you can see drawings of different animals here, wild animals. So this is to reflect that he is one of the great hunters here in the Binget region. For children in most places, seeing a mummified body up close would be terrifying. But these children know there's nothing to be afraid of. Apo Ano is one of them. After an 80-year absence, Apo Ano is part of his community again, an honored presence and a source of pride. In the high mountains near Cabayan, Orlando is finally arriving at his destination, the new tomb discovered by Dorino Olat. This was the main purpose of his trip, the chance to unlock another door to the past. Orlando won't go alone. The entire village is coming along to witness this big event. For them, it's a new opportunity to visit with their ancestors, well worth the long, hard climb from their village in the valley up to the high mountain slopes. But before anyone can enter the tomb, the village elders must be sure that the spirits have given their consent. Orlando has traveled for days to get here and spent months gaining the villagers' trust. But he will be denied entry if the spirits say no. As the one who discovered the tomb, Dorino asks the shaman whether the spirits will grant them access. The spirits are willing. Now, at last, Orlando can approach the cave. Some of the villagers have worn traditional dress today in honor of this special occasion. But only a few members of the tribe will be allowed to enter the tomb. For now, Orlando will have to remain beyond the mouth of the cave along with everybody else. In the cramped confines of the tomb, the men are just able to remove the lid of the heavy wooden sarcophagus. But it's impossible to maneuver the entire coffin through the narrow opening. Since the coffin is very heavy and very big, we cannot bring it out. So we'll just try to let the nanny and put it on the cover of this coffin. Finally, cautiously, they lift their preserved ancestor from his resting place and bring him out into the light of day. The mummy is revealed for the first time in centuries. For the villagers, it's a joyous reunion with a long-lost relative. But the elders don't want to keep their ancestor out of his tomb past dark. They believe he needs his rest. So Orlando will have only a few hours to do his work. Oh, this is a tattoo. You see, there's a tattoo in the hand up to this. This is an exciting and incredible find, you know, because this is the first mummy I saw. Complete with this, you can still see the fabrics. And this is the best way of dating this mummy. So I have to get some samples of the fabrics, which is a good dating material. To know the age of this mummy. The type of fabric is a clue in itself. Made of cotton, not bark, it tells Orlando that this mummy is less than 500 years old. Inside the cave, more discoveries could be waiting. Finally, Orlando is allowed to make his way into the tomb. Though the cave is only about 15 feet deep, its interior is much cooler and considerably wetter than outside. Most probably, this is the burial blankets used to wrap the mummies during burial. This is a typical Ibaloi blanket. See the color, it's integral blue and white. And also it is made of cotton material. And this is another coffin at the side. I'll try to see what's inside. There is a second coffin in the tomb. The lid is heavy, but it's not sealed shut. And unfortunately, the contents are not nearly so well preserved. All that remains are bones. Something has invaded this coffin. There are insects inside because there is a hole in this coffin. So there must be some rodent of the pest coming in that caused its deterioration because of this hole. Orlando is disappointed that the mummy is destroyed, but he finds the coffin itself intriguing. It's carved in a style he has never seen before. Most of the coffins are like this, rounded on the cover, on the top. But this one, this is flat on the top. So far, this is the only coffin I found with this type of design. So it's additional information as to the design of the Kabayan mummy burial coffin. Finding a new and unlooted cave, mummy cave is really exciting in the sense that first time we open a cave, we can see the mummy in perfect condition with all the material remains that are intact. So it's quite easy for us to determine the age of the mummy, then also the date when the mummy died because of the presence of the material remains. For Orlando, this is an ideal situation, the chance to study a mummy in the context of its tomb. But the sound of drumming is a signal from the village elders, calling everyone together for an important ceremony. There's just time to cover the mummy with a new blanket to keep the insects away. The tribal elders will ask the spirits if they are angered by this violation of the tomb. To find out, they sacrifice pigs and examine their entrails. Orlando may be a scientist, but he is in a realm governed by shamans and he's subject to their rules. Examining the pigs' liver and gallbladder, the elders know just what signs to look for and the message is favorable. The spirits seem pleased with Orlando and his work. The liver and the bile is perfect. The spirit from that mummy has no resistance of opening and exposing him to cave. Now it's time to celebrate the opening with an ibaloi feast, big pots of rice, homemade rice wine, and pigs roasted on an open fire. After everyone has eaten, the festivities continue in the traditional way with music and dancing. Orlando is more than an honored guest at this celebration. He's considered a part of the community. To mark his close friendship with the village, Orlando joins in. It is a rare honor, a sign of his acceptance by the living and the dead of the tribe. While the dancing continues, Orlando makes his way back to the mummy. The mummy must be returned before dark, so he'll make the most of his limited time. A small piece of the burial cloth will help him to determine its age. Carbon dating, which measures the age of an organic material, will later reveal that this mummy dates back at least two centuries, quite young by ibaloi standards. Some of their mummies may be more than a thousand years old. He hopes he will be able to come back and perform more tests, but there is a chance that looters will strike once they hear about this new discovery. Orlando and the ibaloi will remain vigilant. I will be visiting them regularly now especially that he's already exposed and many people now knows that there's a mummy cave here, so I have to maintain that he will be safe, the cave will be clean and it will be properly protected. While this mummy is celebrated as it emerges from obscurity, another one has been honored with a name, Datu. As I get to the last steps here in this face of the Datu, meaning the leader of the tribes, a very important person, usually the most wealthy, I get her eyebrows on and the final step is adding her hair, putting on the wig that I ordered, specifically as it's real hair and then cutting it to be the style of that time period and then we'll glue it on and this is the final step that makes her look alive as she may have been. It's been a long process and a lot of fun for me. It's like solving a mystery. You see the mummy and you don't know what that person looked like and now we have a pretty good idea what she was. Datu lived at a time before the Ibaloi intermarried with other tribes and before outsiders like the Chinese arrived in the region. But in spite of those influences, her features are still reflected in the faces of her descendants. Now the time has come to return another mummy to its resting place. The village elders will ask the spirits to protect this site but they'll also put their faith in something more solid. An iron gate placed over the entrance will serve as a deterrent against looters but not a guarantee. Before the mummy is placed inside his tomb, a new blanket lines the coffin. It's a traditional Ibaloi burial cloth for the comfort of the dead and as a sign of respect. With their honored ancestors safely back in his grave, the Ibaloi offer their thanks. Orlando has just begun to unlock the mysteries of the fire mummies and he's eager to learn more. But for him, as for the Ibaloi, it's not just a matter of time before he's found. The most important thing is to protect these sacred relics of the past, to keep them safe here at home in their mountain tombs.