1 of 2 Researchers examine the website Photo: GETTY IMAGES Researchers examine the website Photo: GETTY IMAGES
The scientific journal that published a study saying a huge ruined structure in Indonesia could be “the oldest pyramid in the world” has now launched an investigation into the extraordinary claim.
The journal Archaeological Prospection published the research on October 20, but numerous archaeologists have since disputed the results.
The study made the “discovery” that the prehistoric pyramid on the island of Java is 27,000 years old.
What did the “discovery” say?
Recent analysis has led scientists to believe that the structure known as Gunung Padang, meaning “Mountain of Enlightenment,” was built on an extinct volcano on Java, Indonesia's most populous island.
Scientists at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) believe the structure could be much older than Stonehenge in England or the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, both of which are around 5,000 years old.
They said the pyramid was the oldest monolithic structure (a building or statue made of a single piece of material, usually rock) in the world.
According to them, the conclusion was the result of onsite investigations between 2011 and 2015, using techniques such as drilling and ground penetrating radar.
They assume the construction schedule was something like this:
- Construction would have begun sometime during the last Ice Age (a time when the Earth gets colder), at least 16,000 years ago and possibly 27,000 years ago;
- The central part of the structure was probably built between 25,000 and 14,000 BC. Built in 200 BC, but remained abandoned for several thousand years;
- The construction is said to have taken place between 7,900 and 6,100 BC. BC must have been started again. At this point, the developers appear to have deliberately buried parts of the site;
- The pyramid would be approximately between 2000 and 1100 BC. It was completed in the 2nd century BC, with the addition of the stone terraces that can be seen on the volcano's surface today.
Geologist Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, a researcher at BRIN, says that Gunung Padang is not a natural hill but a multilayered, pyramidshaped structure.
He and his team collected soil samples deep inside the mound and are confident in the validity of the result, especially due to the high levels of organic matter found.
The discovery of a large, multistory room in the center of the building led researchers to conclude that Gunung Padang is actually a pyramid.
The team assumes that there have been structures and cave paintings at this location since the last Ice Age.
“This discovery challenges the conventional assumption that human civilization and the development of advanced construction techniques emerged in the early Holocene or early Neolithic,” the geologist told the BBC.
“The builders of the second and third layers at Gunung Padang must have had exceptional building skills something that is incompatible with a traditional huntergatherer culture,” Natawidjaja said.
However, several archaeologists disagree with the conclusions of Natawidjaja's research one of them is the Indonesian Lutfi Yondri.
Yondri believes the conclusion that Gunung Padang is a buried pyramid is incorrect.
It's a “presumptive conclusion” with data that can't be trusted, he says.
Indonesia has no cultural tradition of pyramid building.
“The question is: Has anyone ever buried a pyramid in a mountain in the archipelago?” says Yondri. “When did people bury pyramids in mountains? How much material would it take to create a mountain?”
Yondri states that Gunung Padang is an example of a more typical Indonesian structure.
“Was there ever a pyramid culture in Indonesia? No. The inhabitants of the archipelago have punden berundak (stone terraces),” he told the BBC.
Stone terraces are tableshaped rock structures used for ancestor worship ceremonies.
Gunung Padang is believed to have been used for this type of ritual. Yondri states that this makes it likely that Gunung Padang is actually a series of stone terraces and not a pyramid.
Yondri also questioned the samples used in the research, saying it was not possible to make assumptions about their origins without considering the cultural context.
2 of 2 Gunung Padang means “Mountain of Enlightenment” Photo: GETTY IMAGES Gunung Padang means “Mountain of Enlightenment” Photo: GETTY IMAGES
The BBC made several attempts to contact the journal Archaeological Prospection but received no response.
However, Eileen Ernenwein, coeditor of Archeological Prospection and an archaeological geophysicist at Tennessee State University in the US, said in an email to the journal Nature that an investigation into the published work was underway. And that it would follow the guidelines of the agreement with the publication ethics committee.
Natawidjaja told the BBC that there was no need for an investigation as his research team adhered to all ethical standards and their findings were subject to a rigorous ninemonth review process by the scientific journal.