Archeological Sensation?

in Popular STEMlast year

I think my followers have noticed that I am interested in history. I even have several large historical articles on Wikipedia. However, this curiosity remains at the level of a hobby and, of course, there is always a lack of time for a hobby. Nevertheless, sometimes incredible discoveries happen in science that capture the attention of the general public. It is difficult to pass them.

Pseudoscientific Theories

I think you all know the famous Egyptian pyramids. Undoubtedly, they are an example of the achievements of an ancient civilisation, as well as an equally huge waste. It is so hard for us to believe that 4-5 thousand years ago people could build such impressive structures that we start to come up with various alternative theories. In particular, there is a widespread theory that the Egyptian pyramids were built by aliens from other planets. I must say that if this is true, they are good builders. It is interesting why they responded to the Egyptians' request and helped them with such a significant construction. And would they respond to my request and help me finish the renovation of my apartment?

When considering any theory, you need to be able to ask the right questions. For example, why did aliens come to build the pyramids? Maybe they had no work on their own planet? Why did they arrive at the time of ancient Egypt? What did they need the pyramids for? Was it a purely philanthropic project? There are many such questions, and with each one, the theory of aliens seems more and more absurd.

A New Phenomenal Discovery

Recently, the world has been shaken by loud headlines: "Probably the world's oldest pyramid dating back to the Ice Age found in Indonesia", "Giant underground pyramid in Indonesia may be the world's oldest".

Wow! What a great discovery! I'm interested in the details. And then I find out that:

Scientists believe that Gunung Padang in Indonesia is not a natural hill but a pyramidal structure. The core of the pyramid is probably made of andesite or cooled lava. Layers of stone structures were added around it.

An Indonesian research team has used a number of techniques, including radiocarbon dating, drilling, and ground probes, to unlock the mysteries of this structure.

Radiocarbon analysis indicates that the oldest part of the structure was built during the last ice age, somewhere between 25,000 and 14,000 BC. This means that the pyramid could be as old as 27,000 years old.

The sensational scientific article was published in the moderated journal Archaeological Prospection. The world's media picked up the news and rushed to share the incredible information.

And What If We Dig Deeper?

When I see such sensational news, especially in the world of science, that "turns our understanding of something upside down", I treat it with distrust. It happened this time too, so I started to take a deeper interest in the issue.

It turned out that not all scientists share the point of view of researchers from Indonesia. First, the sensational article was checked by the British writer Graham Hancock. But he did not add to the article's credibility, as he had already compromised himself several times by adhering to various pseudoscientific theories.

Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University in the UK, is of the opinion that the four stone layers supporting the Gunung Padang terraces may not have been formed through "sophisticated construction techniques" but rather as a result of natural stone movement or weathering.

Archaeologist Bill Farley from the University of Southern Connecticut draws attention to the fact that there is no evidence that Gunung Padang was inhabited by a developed civilisation during the Ice Age. It seems that 27,000 years ago there was only a pyramid (if it was a pyramid). No bones or other remains of any civilisation have been found in the soil.

The journal Archaeological Prospection and its publisher, Wiley, have launched an investigation into this article. Wiley's ethics team is currently reviewing the publication.


I think Indonesian scientists jumped to conclusions. At the same time, no one can refute them with 100% certainty. Therefore, this issue will remain controversial for a long time.

One thing remains clear: Gunun Padang is a prehistoric cultural heritage site in Indonesia. It is an amazing place that many tourists dream of visiting.


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Interesting!

Regarding the Egyptian pyramids, I also think like Britannica that these are 'mostly solid masses of stone with very little to be found inside' or as you said 'waste'. But the pseudoscientific theory relating them to aliens is a tempting one! Quite sensational and has the potential of a great fiction story ... Maybe there is a movie out there based on the same theory, it would be interesting to watch but in the light of fiction.

This new Indonesian theory is a little less sensational; but it seems like a pseudo one too.
Well, I'm no expert 😅 but I agree with you in this theory being a pseudoscientific one, most probably:)) but not with absolute surity!

 last year 

Over time, any event becomes overgrown with various guesses. It is not surprising that something that happened several thousand years ago gives rise to various fantastic theories. It is surprising that there are people who passionately defend these pseudoscientific theories.

In general, I like to delve into all kinds of mysteries, but unfortunately I don't have any time for it 😃

Aliens or not, these pyramids are full of mysteries! I hope someday someone will figure what the purpose of pyramids.

The Indonesia one might be a tourist attraction trap with much evidence.

 last year 

I, too, am inclined to think that such large-scale structures had to have some more purpose than just being tombs.

No doubt, they carry the mystery!

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No bones or other remains of any civilisation have been found in the soil.

I don't know why you think aliens came here to build something for humans or help them with something. They might just have built some stuff for themselves that they used for a while, then left (or no, they're still here, they just don't show up to us because they don't like us, lol 😂)
All kidding aside, but I'm not ruling out any theory. Yes, bombastic headlines are misleading and almost always conceal an attempt at manipulation or deception. To begin with, I set aside all categorizations in the style of "the most" of something - the oldest, the largest one, the first in the world, etc.
But think of something else. I always give as an example our history from the recent past - almost at the end of the last century. Not even 50 years have passed since then and historians in Bulgaria still fight and argue among themselves about what happened in certain years. Much of the documentation has been destroyed.
Well, my point is this: imagine if we have no real track and certainty of what happened just 50 years ago, then how do we know what happened 27,000 years ago? 🤔 Aren't these just speculations, attempts to attract attention or serve someone's interests? They can't convince me it's anything different.
Still, it's interesting to read. Like I said, I'm not ruling out any theory. 😃

 last year 

I believe that history in general is a very manipulative science. Depending on who is in power, so is the view of history. You and I know this very well.

A vivid example of this can be the Holodomor. This is a huge tragedy. There are many documents in which it is said that the Holodomor was created deliberately with the aim of exterminating the unruly Ukrainian people. All these documents are available in museums and archives. But this does not prevent the culprit from assuring the whole world that it was a famine caused by natural factors.

This event happened only 100 years ago. Therefore, I agree with you, no one knows what happened 27,000 years ago. Maybe the Stone Age petroglyphs were created by children playing, but in fact civilization was more advanced then than we think? Who knows?

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Interesting! Didn't know about an Indonesian pyramid.

I'm not much into history but love anthropolgy or any conspiracy theory for that matter (like no one's been to moon ever 😁).

I watched Ancient Apoclypse couple of months ago. My husband warned me about Hancock being a controversial figure but honestly I found most of his theories promising.

I agree it's a little hard to believe that an ancient yet advanced civilization could exist before the last Ice Age. It's somewhat eerie to see most ancient structures face True North or align with equinoxes or solstices and most of all alien figures carved on stones.

Personally, I think there's always an ounce of truth in such theories, if not all true.

As for Egyptian Pyramids, those are definitely not tombs; temples, might be, according to some.

However, this is mentioned in Quran.
👇

And Pharaoh said, “O eminent ones, I have not known you to have a god other than me. Then ignite for me, O Haman, [a fire] upon the clay and make for me a tower that I may look at the God of Moses. And indeed, I do think he is among the liars” (28:38).

And Pharaoh said, “O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways – The ways into the heavens – so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar” (40:36-37).

If these verses are referring towards Pyramids of Egypt then they surely were built in Pharoahs and Moses timeline by "humans".

P.S. Will dig into Indonesian pyramid tonight.

 last year 

like no one's been to moon ever

I was also once very interested in this theory. But I live in a country that was once part of the Soviet Union. I understand very well that if the Americans had not been to the moon, the Soviet Union would have been the first to shout about it. Since they were silent, it is obvious to me that the landing took place.

I agree it's a little hard to believe that an ancient yet advanced civilization could exist before the last Ice Age.

Yes, but at the same time I understand that we know almost nothing about those times.

alien figures carved on stones

I still find it hard to believe in aliens. I'm inclined to believe that ancient people may have believed in beings that come from the sky.

At the same time, from the point of view of probability theory, I understand that in a universe with billions of galaxies, the probability of existence of life is close to 100%.

However, this is mentioned in Quran.

This is another strong proof that the pyramids were built by people to please the pharaohs.

Perhaps you are right about the moon landing but since Apollo 17 there is no landing. To me money and political reasons seem like an excuse after 50 years.

The idea of aliens do seem far-fetched. However, the probability theory (like you said) and the verse in Quran (65:12) about 7 Earths makes me believe that there has to be life outside this Earth.

P.S. I don't know how I missed this comment. Was manually going through the comments under this post and found your reponse.

My, my
Such an interesting discussion going on...
I enjoyed each reply and then your reply to that reply in response to your post.
But, I was the first one to reply...hehe ☺️

 last year 

Sometimes the discussions are much more interesting than the post.

I was the first one to reply...hehe ☺️

Yep, that's true 😉

As I mentioned in my publication on the subject, there are two sides, pro and con, the story itself is incredible, there is an enormous time difference between the extracts that presumes that there were different civilizations that supposedly intervened in it, and Science will yield more evidence on one side or the other.

greetings.

 last year 

Yes, all hope for archeology, which will eventually give us more sources of information about the distant past. But I think we will never learn about all ancient civilizations and their true level of development.