Experts Debunk Claims of World’s Oldest Building in Indonesia

via the Guardian, 16 December 2023: The claim that Indonesia’s Gunung Padang site is over 25,000 years old, potentially the world’s oldest building, has been met with skepticism by the global scientific community. Critics argue that the research, suggesting advanced construction practices predating agriculture, lacks sufficient evidence. The controversy intensified with the involvement of Graham Hancock, known for controversial theories, and has led to an investigation by the journal Archaeological Prospection.

The assertion made headlines around the world but has since led to a fierce backlash from many archaeologists, who say that none of the evidence presented by the team justifies their conclusions about the unprecedented antiquity of Gunung Padang. They argue that the settlement there was probably built a mere 6,000 to 7,000 years ago.

“The data that is presented in this paper provides no support for its final conclusion – that the settlement is extraordinarily old. Yet that is what has driven the headlines,” said Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University. “I am very surprised this paper was published as it is.”

The outcry has since forced the editors of Archaeological Prospection, which is published by Wiley, to launch an investigation. “The investigation … addresses concerns raised by third parties regarding the scientific content of our paper. We are actively engaged in addressing these concerns,” the paper’s main author – geologist Prof Danny Hillman Natawidjaja of Indonesia’s national research and innovation agency – admitted last week.

Source: ‘Really, really weak’: experts attack claim that Indonesia site is ‘world’s oldest building’ | Archaeology | The Guardian