If you remember the ancient inhabitants of Egypt or South America were thefirst to build pyramidsthen you may need to retrieve again , because new research indicates that the early human - made conical monument may have been make in Indonesia as far back as 25,000 years ago . Known as Gunung Padang , the situation had previously been assumed a natural hill , but now researchers claim encompassing fieldwork has discover that the intact structure was in fact built by human deal over the course of several millennia .
locate in Cianjur District , West Java Province , Gunung Padangis a megalithic complex that sit atop an oculus - catching hill . It was only in 2018 that archaeologist first theorize that the entire mound may actually have been unreal , and that Gunung Padang - which means “ Mountain of Enlightenment ” - encompasses much more than the visible gem structure sitting on its surface .
This startling title was made by a multidisciplinary team of researchers who had spent three years follow the site between 2011 and 2014 . And while many expert remain unconvinced , the researchers have now publish a detailed account of their probe , allow for grounds to hold up the idea of Gunung Padang as the world ’s oldest pyramid .
The surface of Gunung Padang is covered in deliberately placed megaliths.Image credit: Natawidjaja et al., Archaeological Prospection, 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
“ Radiocarbon dating of organic soils from the structures uncovered multiple grammatical construction stages dating back thousands of geezerhood BCE , with the initial form go out to the Palaeolithic earned run average , ” write the authors . “ This subject area powerfully paint a picture that Gunung Padang is not a instinctive mound but a pyramid - like construction , ” they continue .
Using a potpourri of techniques let in electric electrical resistance imaging ( ERT ) , ground - penetrating radar ( GPR ) , and seismic tomography ( ST ) , the researcher were capable to build a photo of the hill ’s inner features as well as the chronology of its building . Core drilling at seven dissimilar points revealed that the pyramid was build in four distinguishable stagecoach over thou of years .
sweep 20 to 30 meter ( 65 to 98 feet ) in tiptop , the structure began with the creation of what the authors call Unit 4 . Buried deep within the mound , this initial phase angle “ likely uprise as a born lava hill ” that was “ meticulously sculpted ” into its current form some time between 25,000 and 14,000 years ago .
Unit 3 - which consists of columnar rocks “ arranged like bricks in a construction ” - was then build between 7900 and 6100 BCE . “ Approximately a millennium by and by , between 6000 and 5500 BCE , a subsequent builder arrived at Gunung Padang and reconstruct Unit 2 , ” write the authors , who total that “ the concluding builder make it between 2000 and 1100 BCE , constructing Unit 1 . ”
Intriguingly , the squad also find grounds of “ cover cavities or chamberswithin the site ” , though these will need to be explored in great detail during future field surveys . Even more bewildering is the fact that the website appears to have been advisedly bury on legion occasion , “ possibly to conceal its true identity for preservation purposes ” .
observe the “ remarkable masonry capabilities ” of the paleolithic firebrand of Gunung Padang , the investigator say their determination challenge the effrontery that advanced construction proficiency were only developed with the Parousia of USDA some 11,000 years ago .
The study is published in the journalArchaeological Prospection .
