There are significant doubts. “The oldest pyramid in the world” may be fake, and here's why

November 30, 02:03 Share:

The pyramid at Gunung Padang provoked controversy among archaeologists (Photo: RaiyaniM/Wikipedia.org)

There is a debate among archaeologists about the recent discovery of the supposedly oldest man-made structure in history – a 27,000-year-old pyramid in Indonesia.. Both its age and the involvement of people in its creation are called into question..

Last month, an article appeared in the journal Archaeological Prospection in which the authors claimed to have discovered ( Indonesia) a pyramid that could have been built by people as early as 27,000 years ago.

Co-author of the article is Danny Hilman Natawijaya, a geologist at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency. ( BRIN), claimed that “ the pyramid became a symbol of an advanced civilization” that had high masonry skills. At the same time, modern science claims that advanced civilization existed only about 12,000 years ago.

Natawijaya and his colleagues explored the Gunung Padang site, located on top of an extinct volcano and consisting of stepped stone terraces with retaining walls, between 2011 and 2014. By analyzing local soils, scientists determined that they have four layers: a solidified lava core and layers of rocks “arranged like bricks.”. The researchers suggested that these layers reflect different stages of construction. The first of these allegedly occurred between 27,000 and 16,000 years ago. Subsequent ones were made between 8000 and 7500 years ago. And the last layer, which includes visible stepped terraces, was installed between 4000 and 3100 years ago.

This discovery had the potential to change our understanding of the development of human civilization in this region. However, as Nature writes, many archaeologists criticized the sensational article due to numerous inconsistencies. In particular, Lutfi Yondri, an archaeologist from BRIN, stated that this discovery proves that people in this region lived in caves between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago, long after the pyramid was supposedly built. But no excavations from this period have revealed evidence of their use of complex stone processing.

Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University in the UK, notes that the data on the age of the structures given in the article is not justified. There is also no clear evidence that the layers discovered by scientists were created by people, and were not the result of natural weathering and rock movement. Dibble argues that it is unlikely that the rock was formed by humans.

Bill Farley, an archaeologist at Southern Connecticut State University, also says the article provides no evidence that an advanced civilization existed here during the last Ice Age.. The 27,000-year-old soil samples from Gunung Padang, although accurately dated, do not contain signs of human activity such as charcoal or bone fragments, he claims.

The journal Archaeological Prospection and its publisher, Wiley, have launched an investigation into the article.. Wiley's ethics team is currently reviewing the publication.. The author of the sensational study claims that his team “ is open to all researchers from all over the world” and offers “ to come to Indonesia and conduct a research program on Gunung Padang.”

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