Gunung Padang

A view of Gunung Padang.

Gunung Padang is a megalithic site located in Karyamukti, Campaka, Cianjur Regency, West Java, Indonesia, 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the regency seat or 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Lampegan station. The site is built of earth and stone at the top of an extinct volcano.

History of study

Gunung Padang site.

In his book entitled "Oudheden van Java: lijst der voornaamste overblijfselen uit den Hindoetijd op Java", Dutch historian Rogier Verbeek mentioned the existence of the Gunung Padang site based on a visit and report by M. De Corte in 1890.

Goenoeng Padang : Op den bergtop Goenoeng Padang, nabij Goenoeng Melati, eene opeenvolging van 4 terrassen, door trappen van ruwe steenen vorbonden, met ruwe platte steenen bevloerd en met talrijke scherpe en zuilvormige rechtopstaande andesietsteenen versierd. Op ieder terrasse een heuveltje, waarschijnlijk een graf, met steenen omzet en bedekt, en van boven met 2 spitse steenen voorzien. In 1890, door den heer De Corte bezocht.

Goenoeng Padang : On the mountain top Goenoeng Padang, near Goenoeng Melati, a succession of 4 terraces, connected by steps of rough stone, paved with rough flat stones and decorated with numerous sharp and columnar upright andesite stones. On each terrace a small mound, probably a grave, covered with stones and topped with 2 pointed stones. In 1890, visited by Mr. De Corte.

—Rogier Verbeek, Oudheden van Java,1891.

The notes on the Gunung Padag site in Verbeek's book are similar to those made by Dr. Nicolaas Johannes Krom (Dutch archaeologist) in the 1914 Rapporten van de Oudheidkundige Dienst (ROD, "Report of the Department of Antiquities"). Employees of the National Archeology Research Centre visited the site in 1979 for a study of its archaeology, history, and geology.

Located at 885 metres (2,904 ft) above sea level, the site covers a hill in a series of terraces bordered by retaining walls of stone that are accessed by about 400 successive andesite steps rising about 95 metres (312 ft). It is covered with massive rectangular stones of volcanic origin. The Sundanese people consider the site sacred and believe it was the result of King Siliwangi's attempt to build a palace in one night.

At the end of June 2014, the Education and Culture Ministry declared Gunung Padang site a National Site Area, covering a total of 29 hectares (72 acres).

On 1 October 2014, surveyors halted excavation activities temporarily, hoping to begin them again under the new government.

The 2014 excavation has been criticized for being improperly conducted.

Age estimates

Archaeologist Lutfi Yondri from the Bureau of Archaeology in Bandung estimated that the constructions at Gunung Padang may have been built sometime between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE, thus in the Indonesian late prehistoric period, whereas Harry Truman Simanjuntak suggested a later date in historical times between the 6th and 8th centuries CE. Pottery fragments found at the site were dated by the Bureau of Archaeology in the range 45 BCE – 22 CE.

Fringe dating

Based on carbon dating, Dr. Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, an Indonesian geologist who is an expert in earthquake geology and geotectonics, suggested that the site had been built as a giant pyramid by the inhabitants of an advanced ancient civilization 9,000 to 20,000 years ago. This claim was rejected by vulcanologist Sutikno Bronto who suggested that the carbon dating result was influenced by weathering and concluded that the elevation is the neck of an ancient volcano and not a man-made pyramid. Thirty-four Indonesian scientists signed a petition questioning the motives and methods of the Hilman-Arif team.

Hilman's conclusions, which archaeologist Víctor Pérez called pseudoarchaeology, gained the attention of Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. An archaeologist who did not wish to be named due to the involvement of the country's president, who had set up a task force, said that: "In archaeology we usually find the 'culture' first … Then, after we find out the artefact's age we'll seek out historical references to any civilisation which existed around that period. Only then will we be able to explain the artefact historically. In this case, they 'found' something, carbon-dated it, then it looks like they created a civilisation around the period to explain their finding."

See also

• List of places with columnar jointed volcanics
• Nan Madol - ruined city in Federated States of Micronesesia

Further reading

• Kaharudin, Hendri; Asyrafi, Muhammad (2019). "Archaeology in the Making of Nations: The Juxtaposition of Postcolonial Archaeological Study". AMERTA. 37: 55–69. doi:10.24832/amt.v37i1.55-69. S2CID 199364828.
• Steimer-Herbet, Tara (2018). Indonesian Megaliths: A Forgotten Cultural Heritage. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78491-8439 – via Academia.edu.
• Sutarman, Haryono; Hermawan, Edi; Hilman, Cecep (November 2016). "Gunung Padang Cianjur: pelestarian situs megalitikum terbesar warisan dunia" [Gunung Padang Cianjur: Preservation Of The Largest Megalithic And World Heritage]. Jurnal Surya: Seri Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat (in Indonesian). 2 (1). Retrieved 2022-11-14.

External links

• Media related to Gunung Padang Megalithic Site at Wikimedia Commons
• Evidences of Large pyramid-like structure predating 10,000 Year BP at Mount Padang, West Java, Indonesia: Applications of geological-geophysical methods to explore buried large archeological site