Jakarta – Gunung Padang, believed to be the world’s oldest pyramid, is said to have existed for 25,000 years. However, Western scientists are skeptical of this narrative.
According to them, extraordinary claims must be supported by equally extraordinary evidence. Fliny Dibble, an archaeologist from Cardiff University, UK, stated that while the paper written by Indonesian researchers used legitimate data, it did not lead to definitive conclusions.
For example, the Indonesian research team used carbon dating, claiming that organic soil dating from the structure revealed several construction phases dating back to thousands of years BC, with the earliest phase originating from the Paleolithic era.
Indonesian scientists asserted that soil samples from what they consider the oldest part of the structure date back 27,000 years. While this could be true, foreign archaeologists told Nature that these soil samples lack signs such as bone fragments or charcoal that would indicate human activity.
In essence, without more convincing evidence of human activity in the area, the findings merely indicate very old soil. Dibble concluded that the more plausible explanation, until stronger evidence is provided, is that the mound at Gunung Padang is a natural formation.
“Materials rolling down a hill generally settle in place,” he said, as quoted by IFLScience.
Meanwhile, some global netizens believe it wouldn’t hurt to continue studying Gunung Padang.
“That structure is so old that much evidence would have eroded over time. If it were built by an advanced human civilization before its collapse, they might not leave primitive evidence like signs of fire. Regardless of who built it and when, it’s clearly artificial, not natural,” one commenter said.
“Whether it started as a natural geological formation is irrelevant. The important claim is the age of the human-made aspects, not whether it was built from scratch. The best critiques raised are: A. People 6,000 years ago didn’t build structures like this (which is why it’s groundbreaking news). B. No associated charcoal or bone fragments. It all depends on how the structure was used (not as a kitchen or burial site),” added another.
“I’m not sure if it’s as old as claimed, but I remember when Göbekli Tepe was first discovered and claimed to be over 10,000 years old, everyone laughed and said it was impossible,” another netizen chimed in.
Previously, Gunung Padang research conducted by Indonesian scientists was published in an international archaeology journal. However, foreign parties reportedly requested its retraction.
This was revealed by one of the team members, University of Indonesia archaeologist Dr. Ali Akbar, in an interview with detikINET at UI’s Depok campus. According to him, the research titled Geo‐archaeological prospecting of Gunung Padang buried prehistoric pyramid in West Java, Indonesia was published in Archaeological Prospection by Wiley on October 20, 2023.
“It entered Archaeological Prospection in December 2022 and underwent review for about 9-10 months. Then, it was published in October 2023. Practically, we no longer conducted field research,” said Ali Akbar on Friday (22/3/2024).
The entire team focused on co-authoring the research to ensure its publication in a prestigious scientific journal. Surprisingly, on November 28, 2023, anomalies arose. News in Nature claimed the Gunung Padang research was under investigation by Wiley.
“On December 1, 2023, the authors received an email stating that an investigation was underway. It seemed odd to me because it was already published, and they informed journalists at Nature instead of the authors,” said Ali Akbar.
The Gunung Padang research team includes Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, Andang Bachtiar, Bagus Endar B. Nurhandoko, Ali Akbar, Pon Purajatnika, Mudrik R. Daryono, Dadan D. Wardhana, Andri S. Subandriyo, Andi Krisyunianto, Tagyuddin, Budianto Ontowiryo, and Yusuf Maulana.