Giant Pyramid Buried in Indonesia Could Be The Oldest in The World
Giant Pyramid Buried in Indonesia Could Be The Oldest in The World
A giant underground pyramid hidden beneath a hillside in Indonesia far outdates Stonehenge or the Giza Pyramids and may come to rival the oldest megalithic structures ever built by human hands.
An extensive analysis of Gunung Padang, which means 'mountain of enlightenment' in the local language, now strongly suggests that an ancient civilization "meticulously sculpted" the natural hill of lava into the core of a pyramid-like structure long ago.
The first radiocarbon dating of the site indicates that initial construction began sometime in the last glacial period, more than 16,000 years before the present and possibly as far back as 27,000 years ago.
To put that in perspective, Göbekli Tepe, which is a massive stone assembly in present-day Turkey, is currently considered to be the oldest known megalith in the world. It dates to 11,000 years ago.
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So, this dating is extremely controversial. The single researcher who claims it has not yet published those findings, and the dates vary wildly (from 9,000bp to 20,000 bp) from interview to interview. No material culture has been found at the site suporting dates older than 2,000bp. No source culture for the 9,000 to 20,000 date has been identified.
Enen if the dating is verified at somewhere inthat range, all it demonstrates is that something was at the site at that time (if the dating material is from a fire, it shows someone lit a fire there, for instance). Considering there were tool-making hominids in Sundaland 1.5 million years ago, and homo sapians 45,000 bp, it would be interesting, but not revolutionary, to find some presence at the site. Much more and varied evidence would be required to indicate that this was a megalithic work predating Gobekli Tepe.
As a second note, also important: Gunung Padang is not a pyramid. Its an andesite hill which naturally fractures in to columns and terraces. Some of the terraces have been leveled off by trimming and filling, but that is a very different task from transporting stone to build a pyramid or other free-standing megalithic structure.