Gunung Padang is a megalithic site located in Karyamukti village, Cianjur regency, West Java Province of Indonesia, 50 km southwest of the city of Cianjur or 6 kilometers from Lampegan station. It is the largest megalithic site in all of Southeastern Asia. The existence of the site was mentioned in Rapporten van de Oudheidkundige Dienst (ROD, "Report of the Department of Antiquities") in 1914. The Dutch historian N. J. Krom also mentioned it in 1949. 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 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. 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. The asymmetric Punden Berundak faces northwest, to Mount Gede and was constructed for the purpose of worship. It is located in a position that has been noted for its geomantic and astrological factors. Based on various dating techniques, the site was completed by 5000 BC and quite likely much earlier. There are even preliminary indications that the hill site may itself be an ancient pyramid construction. A survey conducted in 2012 showed the following: - The site was dated 6,500 years BP (before present) by carbon radiometric dating at 3--4 metres below the surface (12,500 years at 8 to 10 metres below the surface), and the artifacts at the surface date to about 4,800 years BP. - Based on geoelectric. georadar, and geomagnetic testing, at least up to 15 metres from the surface there is construction with large chambers. - Unlike the south side with its 5 stone terraces, the east side has 100 stone terraces with width and height of 2x2 metres. The west side also has stone terraces but is still covered by soil and bush, and the north side has, in addition to a 1.5 metre-wide stair, terraces also. - The site area is approximately 25 hectares, in contrast for example to Borobudur Temple, which occupies only 1.5 hectares. - Wall-side construction of the terraces is similar to that of Machu Picchu in Peru. - Another survey used GSSI georadar, Multi-Channel SuperSting R-8 and Geomagnet GEM-Ovenhausser found that. - There are structures beyond the Mount Padang structure. Carbon dating by Beta Analytic of Miami, Florida at an area between 3 and 12 meters suggests the structure could in fact date to as old as 16,000 years BP. 2013 survey The structure beyond the Mount Padang structure is older than the upper structure. At a depth of 1-4.5 meters by Beta Analytic Radiocarbon Dating (BETA) the older (below) structure was built in 4,500 BC, and the upper structure around 500 BC. At a 4.5 meter depth there are stones with specie consisting of 45 percent ferrum, 15 percent clay, and the rest silica. The surveyor found a 10 centimetre steel fraction. The Independent Research Integrated Mount Padang Team, facilitated by the Special Staff of President for Social Assistance and Disaster, found man-made stone structures beneath the ancient site of Mount Padang, at Karyamukti Village, the District of Campaka, Cianjur Regency. According to the result of the survey of team that did an archaeological excavation and geoelectric surveys on the eastern slopes of the hill in March 2013, the structure of column andesite stone was found with near horizontal position elongated east-west. The geological team and also the coaches of the Indonesian Association of Geologists centre, Andang Bachtiar, discovered previously unknown facts about the site's composition. The cement material has a primary composition of 45% iron mineral and 41% mineral silica. The rest is 14% clay minerals with also a carbon element. The results of radiometric analysis of the content of the carbon element in some samples of cement in a drill core from a depth of 5--15 meters which was conducted in 2012 at the prestigious Laboratory, BETALAB, of Miami, USA in mid-2012 indicates an age ranging between 13,000 and 23,000 years BP. Previously, in the results of carbon dating carried out in the BATAN laboratory, the dominant quartz sand that fills the voids between the andesite columns at a depth of 8--10 meters below the five terraces also showed the same age range, of about 13,000 years BP. The latest research found that the site consists of 4 layers, the first of which dated to 600 years BC, the second to 4,900 years BC, and the third and the fourth layers of which are still being researched by the Terpadu Mandiri (Indonesian Unified) Research Team, though several indicators point to earlier still as noted above. ---------------- *Join with us* https://www.facebook.com/GunungPadangMegalithicSites https://twitter.com/TimRisetMandiri

• published: 14 Mar 2014
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