Emily Chan
Currently, the title of the oldest pyramid in the world belongs to the Djoser pyramid in Egypt, which is 4,700-years-old.
But recently, a new study published in the journal Archaeological Prospection has claimed that a “prehistoric pyramid” in the Gunung Padang site in West Java, Indonesia, dates back to 27,000 years ago.
However, not everyone in the archaeological community is convinced of the accuracy of these findings. As a result, the journal has launched an investigation into the study.
The study was led by Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency. Researchers used seismic tomography to reveal hidden rooms and structures within the pyramid, which they believed to be evidence of multiple layers of construction.
To confirm their theories, they utilized ground-penetrating technologies to uncover four layers of construction that each represented different phases of the building time.
The carbon dating of soil removed from the site showed that the first layer was made between 27,000 and 16,000 years ago. The researchers also stated that there was the presence of “meticulously sculpted” stonework.
If human-built chambers and caverns do exist within the pyramid, it would completely uproot previous beliefs about the engineering capabilities of ancient civilizations in the Paleolithic era. It would also mark the period as the earliest emergence of stone masonry.
Several experts have disputed the idea that the structure was formed by human hands. Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University, argued that over time, the rocks were naturally weathered down and moved in such a way that they appeared to be arranged with purpose.
But Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, a geologist at the National Research and Innovation Agency, countered that the rocks were too neatly organized and shaped for them to have formed naturally.
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