Gunung Padang is an archaeological site located in Karyamukti, Campaka, West Java, Indonesia, 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the regency seat, or 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Lampegan station. Located at 885 metres (2,904 ft) above sea level, the site covers a hill—an extinct volcano—in a series of five terraces bordered by retaining walls of stone that are accessed by 370 successive andesite steps rising about 95 metres (312 ft). It is covered with massive hexagonal stone columns 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.
Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, an Indonesian geologist, has claimed that the site had been built as a giant pyramid 9,000 to 20,000 years ago, implying the existence of an otherwise unknown advanced ancient civilization. Natawidjaja's analysis has been questioned by other scientists. Vulcanologist Sutikno Bronto concluded that Gunung Padang is the neck of an ancient volcano and not an artificially created pyramid.
In October 2023, an article by Natawidjaja et al., published in Archaeological Prospection, claimed that Gunung Padang is the oldest pyramid in the world, dating as far back as 27,000 years ago. In March 2024, the publisher of Archaeological Prospection, Wiley, and the editors, retracted that paper, stating that : the radiocarbon dating was applied to soil samples that were not associated with any artifacts or features that could be reliably interpreted as anthropogenic or "man-made". Therefore, the interpretation that the site is an ancient pyramid built 9,000 or more years ago is incorrect, and the article must be retracted.