‘World’s oldest pyramid' built 25,000 years ago was not made by humans, archaeologists claim

You might think one of the oldest pyramids in the world is located in Egypt.

And you’d be forgiven if you thought that, as the Guinness World Records officially lists the Djoser Step pyramid as the world’s oldest pyramid having been built in roughly 2,630 BC.

However, some have suggested an even older pyramid exists, which could date as far back as 25,000 BC - though there have been doubts as to whether the ancient construction was ever made by humans.

Anton Petrus/Getty

In October, one paper claimed that the Gunung Padang pyramid in West Java, Indonesia, was in fact created by other forces.

The paper, which includes research led by Danny Hilman Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, was published in the journal Archaeological Prospection and suggested the construction actually started as a massive lava hill.

The paper described the pyramid as “remarkable” and claimed it could “potentially (be) the oldest pyramid in the world”.

The academics wrote that the “pyramid's core consists of meticulously sculpted massive andesite lava”.

It also said the most ancient part of the pyramid “likely originated as a natural lava hill before being sculpted and then architecturally enveloped” and was created sometime between 25,000 and 14,000 BC, during the last glacial period.

The study has debunked conventional beliefs that the pyramid might have been man-made, suggesting that “human civilization and the development of advanced construction techniques” only happened around 11,000 years ago.

But it does suggest that the layers on top of the pyramid’s core were created by humans, and academics said the builders “must have possessed remarkable masonry capabilities”.

Ade lukmanul Hakim / Getty

However, it seems to have caused some beef in the archaeology world, and other academics and researchers have hit back at the claims made in the paper.

Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University, told the journal Nature there is no evidence suggesting the buried layers were made man-made and said he is “surprised [the paper] was published as is”.

“Material rolling down a hill is going to, on average, orient itself,” he said and suggested the layers are more likely to have been caused by natural weathering rather than being made by humans.

He added there is no evidence of “working or anything to indicate that it’s man-made”.

The paper published in Archaeological Prospection described the pyramid as “remarkable” and claimed it could “potentially (be) the oldest pyramid in the world”.

Natawidjaja responded to the criticism and 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”. He added: “We know very little about our human history.”