Jakarta, IO – Senior archaeologist Truman Simanjuntak criticized claims of pyramids being found in an area near Lake Toba, North Sumatra, by researchers from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) recently.
Truman said that ancestral history in the archipelago did not recognize this structure, including among the Batak tribal group. Truman, who was born and raised in Pematang Siantar, confirmed that there had never been any writing that pointed to the existence of pyramid-like structure in Batak culture, per CNNIndonesia, Tuesday (3/10).
“The pyramids were unknown to our ancestors. None of our ancestral cultures ever built pyramids like those in Egypt. None,” Truman emphasized. “In Batak literary tradition, there is no mention (about the pyramids), neither in ancient texts, nor inscriptions on bamboo bark or on tree leaves,” he continued.
The researcher with the Center for Prehistory and Austronesian Studies (CPAS) said it is impossible for one culture to suddenly emerge without being related to the cultures around it.
“So there is a need to study local and regional contextual, micro and macro archaeology,” he continued.
Furthermore, Truman said that this kind of structure is often found naturally and they should not be called pyramids. “Based on images circulating in the media, it looks like there is a structure that gets narrower upwards. But can we promptly conclude that it is a pyramid?” he argued.
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“When it comes to natural landscapes, for example, some are somewhat flat, or smaller (at the top), that’s a phenomenon that is commonly found, maybe when you see a mountain from a distance it also looks like a pyramid.”
Earlier, Danny Hilman Natwidjaja, a researcher with BRIN Geological Disaster Research Center, revealed that he discovered 120-meter-tall pyramid-like structures around Lake Toba while studying an earthquake fault line in the area. (un)