Radar images of the island of Java helped geologists discover a mysterious pyramid deep in its forests, whose age may be about 28 thousand years. They talked about this discovery at a meeting of the American Geological Union in Washington.
The pyramids, traditionally considered the main symbol of Ancient Egypt, cannot be called the exclusive “know-how” of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley. Similar structures were built by other ancient civilizations, including their neighbors, the Sumerians, the Maya and Aztecs, as well as the inhabitants of the forests of Southeast Asia after their adoption of Buddhism.
Despite their enormous size, many of the world's largest pyramids, especially the Mayan buildings, remained unknown to humanity until recently, when archaeologists were able to study the former territories of these ancient empires using satellites, radars and Earth remote sensing systems.
Bakhtiar and his colleagues accidentally discovered one of the largest and potentially oldest man-made pyramids on Earth while studying the slopes of Mount Padang, located in the western part of Java.
Here, as scientists note, archaeologists discovered a kind of "mound", Gunung Padang, two centuries ago, covered with a large number of stone blocks. Historians have long believed that under this structure, presumably a temple from the late Stone Age, there may be other, more ancient and large-scale structures hidden.
Bakhtiar and his colleagues carried out a series of excavations on the slopes of this mountain, and also "enlightened" it with the help of radars and a number of other devices. They allow you to search for hidden voids and look for traces of ancient artifacts, observing how the electrical or magnetic resistance of the soil changes.
Much to the surprise of scientists, all the surroundings of this mountain, the total area of which is about 15 hectares, turned out to be part of the same man-made structure, partially covered with soil and overgrown with forest.
Its height, according to current estimates of researchers, is about 30 meters, and it consists of three parts, built in the mouth of an extinct volcano in different historical periods. The first, the largest layer of the pyramid, was made of similar blocks mixed with sand. It was built, as shown by radiocarbon analysis, about 15-28 thousand years ago.
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The next two levels of the pyramid were built on top of the first layer much later - about 8.3 and 3.5 thousand years ago. During this time, a thick layer of soil and vegetation managed to cover them, making this pyramid invisible to the eyes of ordinary people and even professional archaeologists.
Interestingly, radar images indicate the existence of cavities inside this pyramid, which may indicate the presence of some secret rooms or partially littered rooms inside this hill. According to archaeologists, their presence speaks in favor of the fact that this unusual pyramid was indeed a temple, and not just a burial place or an "observatory" like the famous Stonehenge.