Archaeologists suggest 25,000-year-old pyramid was not made by humans

Whilst the origins of pyramids haven't been fully confirmed like the exact methods used to build blocks and who exactly built them - whether it was thousands of locals or a dedicated team.

There's still a lot of mystery, however, scientists are managing to piece things together with some logical theories and satellite data.

Archaeologists have stirred things up by claiming the 'world’s oldest pyramid' built 25,000 years ago might not be human-made at all.

Guinness World Records officially lists the Djoser Step pyramid in Egypt as the world’s oldest pyramid (around 2,630 BC).

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However, one paper published in October suggested that the Gunung Padang pyramid in Indonesia could be as old as 25,000 BC.

Research led by Danny Hilman Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences argues that the core of the Gunung Padang pyramid's core is 'meticulously sculpted massive andesite lava' that 'likely originated as a natural lava hill before being sculpted and then architecturally enveloped.'

The findings published in the journal Archaeological Prospection challenge 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.

They wrote: 'Evidence from Gunung Padang and other sites, such as Gobekli Tepe [in Turkey], suggests that advanced construction practices were already present when agriculture had, perhaps, not yet been invented.'

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Although, not everyone is convinced with one UK archaeologist criticising the research saying he is 'surprised [it] was published as is.'

Flint Dibble, from Cardiff University, told the journal Nature: 'Material rolling down a hill is going to, on average, orient itself' and there is no clear evidence to suggest 'working or anything to indicate that it’s man-made.'

Meanwhile, Bill Farley, an archaeologist at Southern Connecticut State University, points out that the 27,000-year-old soil samples from Gunung Padang 'do not carry hallmarks of human activity, such as charcoal or bone fragments.'

In response to the criticism, Natawidjaja has invited other researchers to investigate Gunung Padang further.

He said: 'We are really open to researchers around the world who would like to come to Indonesia and do some research programme on Gunung Padang.'

So, while the debate continues, the search for the true oldest pyramid - and its origins - remains very much open.