Indonesia: Archaeologists have said that a giant pyramid buried under a hillside in Indonesia could be the oldest megalithic structure ever built.
Gunung Padang may be the world’s oldest pyramidal structure, constructed on an extinct volcano long before the advent of agriculture or modern civilization.
The archaeologists say that it could be older than Stonehenge in England or the great pyramids of Giza in Egypt, which are both about 5000 years old.
Gunung Padang, which is situated on the island of West Java, means ‘mountain of enlightenment’ in the local language.
Scientists in Indonesia suggest that its interior hides large open chambers filled with unidentified things. According to a recent analysis, scientists believe that an ancient society carved the structure into the core of the volcano several thousand years ago.
Research has been occurring around this site from 2011 to 2015. The analysis comes as a result of this excavation. Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency has used many techniques, such as core drilling, ground penetrating radars, and subsurface imaging, to find out more about the site.
According to the analysis, the pyramid started to be built during the last glacial period, around 16,000 years before the present and possibly as far back as 27,000 years ago.
This core part, which lies 30 metres below the structure, was probably built between 25,000 and 14,000 BCE.
Construction started again around 7900 to 6100 BCE. The construction was finished around 2000–1100 BCE.
The researchers stated that the excavation should continue to find out who and why they built the Gunung Pandang.
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