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The Gunung Padang site in Cianjur is believed to be the oldest pyramid in the world. (Photo: Disparbud)
JAKARTA – Good news comes from cross-scientific researchers. The Gunung Padang site in Cianjur, West Java, will most likely be consecrated as the oldest pyramid in the world, after a number of new pieces of evidence were discovered.
The new study, involving the collaborative efforts of archaeologists, geophysicists, geologists and paleontologists along with government agencies, believes the structure known as Gunung Padang may be the oldest pyramid in the entire world.
Using seismic tomography, electrical resistivity tomography, and ground-penetrating radar, the team’s data shows older parts of the pyramid were built around 25,000 years ago. The time history offered by the researchers would place the initial construction of these pyramids in the last Ice Age.
“Organic soil radiocarbon measurements of this structure reveal several stages of construction dating back thousands of years BC, with the initial phase dating to the Paleolithic era,” said one of the researchers quoted from Sputnik, Wednesday (8/11/2023).
The Gunung Padang site has been designated as a cultural heritage site since 1998. Before it was discovered, this site was considered a natural hill, but through in-depth research which first began in 2011, researchers determined that this megalith was built in complex and sophisticated stages by hand. man. However, it’s important to note that it wasn’t until 2018 that researchers proposed these structures may be man-made.
“This study firmly shows that Gunung Padang is not a natural hill but a pyramid-like construction,” the authors wrote.
Not only was the structure built by human hands during the Ice Age, but its construction also spanned thousands of years. Researchers detail that this pyramid was built in four different stages over thousands of years.
The team discovered the deepest part of Mount Padang lies 30 meters below its peak, and it is believed that its shape (which they call Unit 4) likely came from a natural lava hill which was then carefully worked into its current shape.
After this initial form was built, the next area, which researchers call Unit 3, was built using blocks of columns and arranged like bricks in a building and was built between 6,000 and 5,500 BC. The final section, Unit 1, was built between 2,000 and 1,100 BC.