The Mystery Stones Of Mount Padang

By James Donahue

Since first recognized as a historic Magalithic site by visiting archaeologists in 1914, the jumble of massive stones spread over about four acres atop a high hill known as Mount Padang in Cianjur, West Java is now thought to be the remains of what may have once been another of the world’s great pyramids.

Unlike the Great Pyramid at Giza, however, the Mount Padang site appears to be the remains of a once massive megalith constructed on the peak of an already existing hill. To reach it visitors had to climb a steep staircase of 400 steps made of andesitic rocks.

The vast complex of a structure that existed at the top of this hill has bewildered researchers since it was recognized as an archaeological and historical site of interest nearly a century ago. Even its age is in debate since it is believed to have been built long before the Great Pyramid.

Not only this but an archaeological dig at the site has uncovered evidence of an even earlier man-made structure, complete with ornate rock carvings. Carbon dating indicates the original structure lying under the remains at the top of the hill date back to 14,000 BC or beyond.

Researchers used samples of sand, soil and charcoal found at a depth of up to 12 meters below the surface of the top of the mountain.

While the ruins at the top of Mount Padang are considered extremely ancient, the discovery of even earlier ruins buried that far under them has proved mind boggling. Andi Arief, a spokesman for the archaeological research team, said the find suggests that Indonesia was inhabited by people with sophisticated technology in the ancient past.

Geologist Budianto Ontowirjo said: "If the structure beneath the mountain is naturally constructed, then the age revealed by carbon-dating process should have been much greater." He said that any natural material buried up to 12 meters below the surface could be millions of years old.

The question has been raised as to whether the entire mountain may prove to be the covered remains of a once massive pyramid. The preliminary findings by the only archaeological dig conducted at the site have obviously sparked controversy. Some archaeologists at the University of Indonesia are questioning the validity of the findings saying it is highly unlikely that a society that old erected such a structure that long ago.

But Budianto and his team believe they have some pretty concrete evidence. "We found motives in the forms of tiger’s claws or a kujang (dagger) engraved on the stones. We suspect they are letters to mark the stones," he said.

Archaeologist Ali Akbar said blocks of stones were found that were "neatly placed three meters beneath the ground. I suppose they were not naturally placed there."

Now the controversy centers around financing a major archaeological excavation of the site to find out what is really in that mountain. Some activists say the cost of such a dig would be a waste of the state’s money and would damage the local ecosystem.

The massive ruins found at the top of Mount Padang are also ancient and so old that there is no recorded or mythological history passed down by the natives. That the once great stone structure that existed on the site now lies in shambles, with great carved stones scattered wildly about the landscape suggests that something cataclysmic once occurred there.

Great pillars of andesite, basaltic andesite and basalt, shaped about one meter in diameter lie scattered at the site. The great stones once formed polygon sides in the shape of either tetragon or pentagon shapes. There were five distinct terraces or patios leading up to the building from the top of the 400 steps.

It is a common opinion that the site was a holy site to some ancient race. But as it was in ancient Egypt, China, and the high mountains of South America, the great megalithic stones with their intricate carvings have proved a mystery to contemporary researchers. How could they have accomplished such work in the distant past? Even today with the help of diamond cutting tools and heavy machines to lift the weight of such stones, the erection of such buildings would be a monumental if not impossible task.

Yet another mystery linked to the Mount Padang site are the musical stones. A research team from Bandung Fe Institute discovered three blades of rock that, when struck, give off a "twang" tone in the notes of f, g, d and a. Was "rock music" in some way linked to the historic nature of this strange place?