Experts’ Doubts About Claims of Discovery of the Oldest Pyramid in the World in Indonesia

The massive buried structures in Gunung Padang, Indonesia, have been described as being much older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt in a new study, but some experts are skeptical that they were built by humans.

Introduction

A scientific paper claiming that a structure in Indonesia is the world’s oldest pyramid has astonished some archaeologists and has led to an investigation by the journal that published it, according to what Nature learned.

Shaky Foundations

Gunung Padang consists of five terraced stone platforms, with retaining walls and stairs connecting them, located atop an extinct volcano. Between 2011 and 2014, Natwijaya and his colleagues investigated the site using several ground-penetrating techniques to determine what lies beneath the terraces.

Extraordinary Claims

The Gunung Padang site appeared in the 2022 Netflix documentary “Ancient Apocalypse,” hosted by British writer Graham Hancock, who promotes the idea that an advanced global civilization was wiped out 12,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. The authors acknowledge Hancock’s review of their paper.

Investigation of the Paper

Archaeological Prospection Journal and its publisher Wiley have launched an investigation into the paper. Eileen Ernenwein, an archaeological geophysicist at Tennessee State University in Johnson City and an editorial contributor to the journal, stated in an email to Nature: “The editors, including myself, and Wiley’s ethics team are currently investigating this paper according to the guidelines of the publication ethics committee.” She declined to disclose the nature of the raised concerns.

Conclusion

People should celebrate Gunung Padang for what it is – “an amazing, important, and magnificent site” – rather than giving it a place in any particular narrative about the development of human civilization. Natwijaya hopes the controversy does not sour the community. “We are truly open to any researchers from around the world who want to come to Indonesia and conduct research programs on Gunung Padang,” he says. “We know very little about our human history.”

This article has been reproduced with permission and was first published on November 28, 2023.

Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-doubt-claims-that-worlds-oldest-pyramid-was-discovered-in-indonesia/