Scientists presented evidence of this extraordinary building at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union on February 12, 2002.
Located at the top of Badong Mountain in West Java, there is an archaeological site at the top, which was discovered in the early19th century and has rows of ancient stone pillars on it. However, scientists have found that the slope "mountain" below is not a part of the natural rock landscape, but is artificially created by human beings. [25 Most Mysterious Archaeological Discoveries on Earth]
"Buildings that used to be considered superficial are collapsing-it's a huge structure," said Andang Bachtia, an independent geologist in Indonesia who is in charge of core drilling and soil analysis of the project.
The pyramid-shaped structure has been hidden for a long time, because it is covered with leaves and looks like a mountain (red circle) with a boulder (yellow circle) exposed at the top. Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, chief project researcher and senior scientist of the Indonesian Institute of Science, told the reporter of Life Science that although the buried structure looks like a pyramid on the surface, it is different from similar pyramids built by the Mayans. Although the Mayan pyramids are usually symmetrical, this structure is slender and seems to be semicircular in front.
"This is a unique temple," Natavijaya said.
He and his colleagues suspect that there may be more exposed boulders than they look, because some exposed features in existing archaeological sites do not match the existing stones. He said that the "strange" shape of this mountain also stands out from the landscape.
"It's not like the surrounding terrain, which is badly eroded. This looks young. Natavigaya explained: "In our view, this is artificial.
Using a series of techniques to detect underground, including ground penetrating radar detection, X-ray tomography, two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging, core drilling and excavation, researchers gradually discovered several layers of a huge structure. It is distributed in 15 hectares (150,000 square meters) and has been built for thousands of years, with layers representing different periods.
Using various techniques to peek underground, the researchers found several layers of the pyramid structure, each layer representing a different period. (Danny Hilman Natawidjaja) Scientists reported in AGU that the top pillar is basalt, forming a stepped terrace, and other rock pillars are arranged to "form walls, paths and spaces". They estimate that this layer is about 3,000 to 3,500 years old, and it is below the surface 10 feet (3 meters).
It is the second layer of similar rock pillar, which is thought to have a history of 7500 to 8300 years. The third floor extends 49 feet (15m) below the surface, with a history of more than 9,000 years. Researchers say that this can even be traced back to 28,000 years ago. Natawidjaja added that their investigation also found several catacombs.
Natawidjaja said that today, local people still use the exposed place on the roof as a holy place for prayer and meditation, which may be the way people used it thousands of years ago.
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