PROGRES.ID– The Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Laksana Tri Handoko, has commented on the discovery of a structure believed to be a pyramid at Lake Toba, North Sumatra. According to him, this discovery still requires further research.
“The pyramid at Lake Toba will be the subject of research by our geology colleagues in Bandung. I am not fully aware of the current situation because there was a discussion about it yesterday, but I haven’t received an update from Mr. Danny Hilman,” he said at the BRIN office, as reported by CNNIndonesia.com, on Wednesday (10/4/2023).
Laksana Tri Handoko revealed that he had received initial explanations from the researchers who discovered the pyramid at Lake Toba, but he had not received an official report after the researchers visited the discovery site. Danny Hilman, a BRIN researcher, was the first to claim the discovery of a pyramid-like structure around Lake Toba.
Furthermore, Handoko stated that the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, had coordinated with BRIN regarding further research, but the technical team involved is still active.
At present, Handoko is awaiting plans for further studies related to the Lake Toba pyramid. If BRIN’s support is required for this research, he is ready to assist.
“Because they conducted an initial study. Then, for the continuation of the study, what is needed, that’s what I want to know,” he said.
However, Handoko also claimed that this research would not be his top priority since he had already received a direct report from Luhut.
According to him, research priorities still need to be considered based on the urgency and importance of the study at the Lake Toba location, according to experts.
“We look at it from the perspective of our archaeologist friends, the experts, how important it is, which one is a priority, there’s a separate discussion there that I am also not fully aware of among them, why it’s crucial, for example,” he said.
“What I understand is that usually they already have an initial study and initial indications that this is important. But it might still be too early. Because the investment in research like this is quite significant,” he added.
Previously, Professor of Research from the Geological Disaster Research Center at BRIN, Danny Hilman Natwidjaja, revealed the discovery of the Toba Pyramid, which stands as tall as 120 meters.
“It’s pyramid-shaped, even though half of it is attached to the Toba tuff layer (porous rock formed from volcanic ash), which is 74,000 years old,” he said last week.
However, the discovery of the ancient pyramid-like structure has sparked criticism from several archaeologists, including senior archaeologist Truman Simanjuntak.
Truman strongly criticized the claim about the pyramid in the Lake Toba region. He stated that the ancestors in the Nusantara region did not know of pyramid structures, including among the Batak people.
“Our ancestors did not know the pyramid. Our ancestors did not create pyramids like in Egypt. There is none,” he said. Truman, a researcher at the Center for Prehistory and Austronesian Studies, emphasized the importance of studying the local and regional context, both in micro and macro archaeology. He stated that no culture suddenly emerges in a region without any connection to the surrounding areas.
