Study that found the oldest pyramid in the world has an error – 03/20/2024 – Science

A study that challenged scientific orthodoxy by claiming that the Gunung Padang archaeological site in Indonesia was the oldest pyramid in the world has been retracted.

The work in question was published in October last year in the journal Archaeological Prospection. In it, it was argued that the deepest layer of the site appears to have been carved by humans up to 27 thousand years ago.

Critics said, however, that the authors incorrectly dated the human presence at Gunung Padang by relying on soil radiocarbon measurements from drilling samples rather than using artifacts.

Wiley, the magazine’s American publisher, cited this reason in the retraction notice issued this Monday (19).

Gunung Padang is considered a dormant volcano, and archaeologists say the pottery recovered so far suggests that humans have used the site for hundreds of years or more, but nothing that goes back 27,000 years.

To give you an idea, the pyramids of Giza, in Egypt, are around 4,500 years old.

The retraction, based on a multi-month investigation, said the study was flawed because its soil samples were “not associated with any artifacts or features that could be reliably interpreted as anthropogenic or ‘man-made.'”

Some archaeologists assessed the retraction as positive.

The study authors called it unfair. For them, the soil samples were “unequivocally established as man-made constructions or archaeological features,” in part because the soil layers included artifacts.

“We encourage the academic community, scientific organizations and concerned individuals [com o tema] to join us in challenging this decision and defending the principles of integrity, transparency and fairness in scientific research and publishing,” the authors wrote.

The study’s lead author, earthquake geologist Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, did not respond to an interview request, as did Wiley and Archaeological Prospection editors Eileen Ernenwein and Gregory Tsokas.

Supporter of Natawidjaja’s research, journalist Graham Hancock said in a statement that he does not see the retraction as “fair, justified or good science”. In his view, instead of issuing a retraction, the newspaper should have published criticisms of the article, a measure that, according to him, would have allowed readers to form their own opinions.

“Science shouldn’t be about suppression,” said Hancock, who interviewed Natawidjaja for an episode about Gunung Padang in “Ancient Apocalypse,” his 2022 Netflix docuseries.

The Society for American Archeology said Hancock’s Netflix show “devalues ​​the archaeological profession based on false claims and misinformation.”

Hancock, for his part, rejected this argument. He said archaeologists should be more open to theories that challenge academic orthodoxy. Netflix did not respond to an interview request about the retraction.

Gunung Padang sits atop a hill dotted with stone terraces and has long attracted visitors seeking to perform Islamic and Hindu rituals.

The thesis that it was an ancient pyramid had support and funding from the central government during the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, who left office in 2014. His successor, Joko Widodo, cut the funding.

One of the archaeologists who welcomed the retraction, Noel Hidalgo Tan said he considered it entirely appropriate because the study’s evidence did not support its conclusions.

“It was unfortunate that the paper reached this stage,” said Tan, who works at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Archeology and Fine Arts. “But it was better to be retracted than to have nothing said about it.”

Dwi Ratna Nurhajarini, head of the Office of Cultural Heritage Conservation in West Java province, where the archaeological site is located, said the study’s conclusions should be re-examined in light of the retraction.

“The structures at Gunung Padang are indeed layered and terraced, reminiscent of civilizations from Indonesia’s distant past,” she said by phone. “But his age may not be as old as suggested.”