A research paper claiming the Gunung Padang site in Indonesia is the world's most ancient pyramid, constructed 25,000 years ago, has been slammed by experts. Led by Danny Hilman Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, the research was published in the journal Archaeological Prospection in October. The claim is unprecedented - Stonehenge and others like Turkey's Gobekli Tepe stone monuments - are thought to be about 11,000 years old. But Gunung Padang could be twice the age of these ancient monuments.
"This study sheds light on advanced masonry skills dating back to the last glacial period. This finding challenges the conventional belief that human civilisation and the development of advanced construction techniques emerged only... with the advent of agriculture approximately 11,000 years ago," the researchers claimed in the study.
"Evidence from Gunung Padang suggests advanced construction practices were already present when agriculture had, perhaps, not yet been invented," they further said.
However, the assertions have been slammed by many archaeologists, who question the evidence presented to justify the claim. They said the settlement there was probably built a mere 6,000 to 7,000 years ago.
"The data that is presented in this paper provides no support for its final conclusion - that the settlement is extraordinarily old. Yet that is what has driven the headlines," Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University, told The Guardian. "I am very surprised this paper was published as it is."
Bill Farley, an archaeologist at Southern Connecticut State University, added, "The 27,000-year-old soil samples from Gunung Padang, although accurately dated, do not carry hallmarks of human activity, such as charcoal or bone fragments."
After the global outcry, editors of Archaeological Prospection launched an investigation.
"The investigation... addresses concerns raised by third parties regarding the scientific content of our paper. We are actively engaged in addressing these concerns," the study's main author - geologist Prof Danny Hillman Natawidjaja of Indonesia's national research and innovation agency - quoted as saying by the outlet.
Mr Natawidjaja, however, defended his team's work. "The observations that form the cornerstone of our study are supported by meticulous exposure analysis, trenching-wall loggings, core-drilling studies, and integrated-comprehensive geophysical surveys," he told the Observer earlier this month.
