Graham Hancock on archaeology: what the evidence says · JRE #2215
SUBJECT: ARCHAEOLOGY
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
Dani Hilman Natu Wajaja, who is the geologist who brought to the world's attention the mystery of Gunung Padang in Indonesia, which appeared in the first episode of season one of Ancient Apocalypse. The possibility that this site is more than 27,000 years old, that we're looking at a pyramidal structure that has had several phases of work done on it and that the earliest phases go back deep into the last ice age. He managed to publish a peer-reviewed paper on this, but unfortunately
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Danny Hilman Natawidjaja and colleagues did publish a peer-reviewed paper in the journal Archaeological Prospection (online 20 October 2023) arguing that Gunung Padang is a buried pyramidal structure built in multiple phases, with the earliest construction dated as far back as roughly 25,000 to 27,000 years ago, deep in the last ice age. Outside experts in archaeology, geophysics, and radiocarbon dating quickly challenged the conclusions, noting that the ancient dates came from soil samples not demonstrably associated with human-made artifacts, so the radiocarbon results could not reliably show human construction at those depths. On 18 March 2024 the journal retracted the paper, over the authors' objections, citing this dating flaw. The paper also acknowledged Graham Hancock for reviewing the manuscript, and the site featured in the first episode of his Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse. So Hancock is correct that the paper was published and peer reviewed, but its central 27,000-year pyramid claim was rejected by specialists and formally retracted.
Evidence sources 03 / EXHIBITS
Who Benefits
Gunung Padang featured in the first episode of Hancock's Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse, and an ice-age dating for the site supports his signature lost-civilization thesis; Hancock also reviewed the paper he is citing.