History and Culture of Java-Culture-Art-Spirituality and Scientific-Indonesia Java Machu Picchu–Megalithic Site is Eldest than Pyramid–Gunung Padang West Java Archaeology Tour–Did Ancient Humans Build It
Cianjur West Java has prehistoric megalithic heritage sites. Located in Karyamukti Village, Padang Mountain is unique with the rest of the square stone buildings. Padang Mountain is one of the unique destinations in Cianjur West Java. This place is a historical site from the stone age. Even the age of this place is said to be older than the Egyptian pyramids. In an area of ??3 hectares, you can find uniquely shaped expanses of rock. This rock has a shape like a block of wood or square. Some rocks appear to be arranged to form several buildings. This site complex is stepped pyramid and surrounded by a fairly deep valley. So that makes this place look beautiful.
The Padang Mountain site stands as one of the largest stepped pyramid shrines in Southeast Asia. Its existence took part in photographing the invisible. Padang Mountain site struggled to respond to changes in soil density and the threat of landslides, and withstand shocks. Please note, Padang Mountain stands on two active faults that are earthquake prone.
Opinions and Results of Research Experts
Padang mountain site in West Java has long attracted the attention of world archaeologists, Indonesian experts discussed the site in the annual event of the American Geophysican Union (AGU). In their discussion, experts concluded that the structure of the pyramid kept the remains of ancient temples hidden for thousands of years underground. The structure of the pyramid, which is located at the top of Mount Padang, West Java, was first discovered at the beginning of the 19th century. Early findings say the archaeological site holds rows of ancient stone pillars.
Experts also say, the sloping “hill” that supported the summit of the site was made by humans in the past and is not part of the rocky natural landscape. Reported by Live Science, Andang Bachtiar, an independent archeologist from Indonesia who oversees core drilling and soil analysis for the archeology project on the Padang Mountain site, said “what was previously seen as a building surface, when viewed into it, this is a very large structure”.
According to senior Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Danny Hilman Natawidjaja who was involved in the archaeological project research at the Padang Mountain site said, “although the structure buried resembles a pyramid, its shape is different from that built by Maya. The pyramids of the Mayans tend to be symmetrical, while the structure of the pyramid at the Mount Padang site extends and there is a half circle on the face, “This is a unique temple”. Experts suspect that hidden megaliths are larger than they appear, because some parts that appear on archeological sites are incompatible with standing stones, and the shape of the “odd” hill also stands out from the landscape. It’s not like the surrounding topography is being eroded a lot, this area looks very young, looks very much like human made in the past.
Archaeologists use various techniques to peek underground sites. Some of the methods carried out are ground penetrating radar surveys, X-ray tomography, 2D and 3D imaging, core drilling, and excavation. From this method, experts gradually discovered several layers of quite large structures. The structure layer is spread over an area of ??about 15 hectares (150,000 square meters) and was built thousands of years ago with layers representing different periods. In a report presented at the AGU meeting, experts stated that at the very top there was a basalt rock pillar that framed the terrace with stone column arrangements forming walls, pathways, and spaces. They estimate the layers are around 3,000 to 5,000 years old.
Beneath the surface to a depth of about 3 meters there is a second layer of similar stone columns estimated to be 7,500 to 8,300 years old. In the third layer, extends about 15 meters below the surface and is estimated to be more than 9,000 years old, possibly reaching 28,000 years. The survey was carried out by a team of archeologists and also detected the existence of several dungeons.
Until now, the top of the Gunung Padang site is still used by the community as a sacred place for prayer and meditation. This is probably also what ancient humans did thousands of years ago there.
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