While the Guinness World Record officially listed the Egyptian pyramid of Djoser (also known as the steps pyramid) as the oldest pyramid in the world (around 2,630 BC), Indonesian researchers claim that a layer of the Gunung Padang pyramid in Indonesia was built around 25,000 BC - although there have been doubts about whether the project was created by humans.
In a study led by Danny Hilman Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Institute of Science and published in the journal Archaeological Prospection, scholars wrote that "the front of the pyramid includes a giant meticulously carved andesitled plate" and "the oldest part of the construction" of the pyramid "are likely to originate from a natural rattan hill before being carved and then perfected for architecture".
The authors wrote: This study sheds light on advanced construction skills from the last ice age. This discovery challenges the common belief that human civilization and the development of advanced construction techniques only appeared... along with the birth of agriculture about 11,000 years ago.
Evidence from Gunung Padang and other locations, such as Gobekli Tepe (in Turkey), shows that advanced construction activities have appeared since agriculture may not have been invented.
Scholars have also claimed that the builders must have incredible construction ability, but a British archaeologist has dismissed the article, saying he was surprised it was published like that.
Flint Dibble from Cardiff University told Nature magazine that there is no clear evidence that the buried rock layers were man-made.
Basically, materials rolling down the hill will roll in different directions, he said, adding that there is no evidence of man-made activities or anything.
Meanwhile, Bill Farley, an archaeologist at Southern Connecticut State University, is said to have said that "the 27,000-year-old soil specimens from Gunung Padang, although accurate, do not have any signs of human activity, such as charcoal or bone fragments".
Natawidjaja responded to the criticism by saying, "We are truly open to researchers around the world who want to come to Indonesia and conduct some research programs on Gunung Padang."
Meanwhile, a co-editor of Archaeological Prospection confirmed that an investigation has been conducted into the issue raised in the study.
