An image shared on social media in March 2025 claims to show the "
Examples of the claim appeared on X, where one user said it "looks like" an "ancient machine," Instagram and Facebook. The image features a multilevel earthwork carved into a green, forested hillside with steps leading from a central lower platform to the mountain peak.
Though Gunung Padang is a genuine archaeological site in Indonesia, the image in question does not authentically show the ancient landmark and was likely made using artificial-intelligence software. Therefore, we have rated the image as a fake.
It was not possible to find who first posted the image. However, Hive Moderation's online AI detection tool determined that it was 99.9% "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content," as shown in the screenshot below. Other AI detection tools such as Detect AI Images and Sight Engine reached similar conclusions.
(Hive Moderation)
This alone does not confirm that the photo is fake; however, comparisons to authentic pictures of the archaeological site reinforce this rating. For example, Getty Images, an editorial photo agency, hosts more than 100 authentic photographs of Gunung Padang, none of which shows the ruins as they appear in the social media posts at the center of this fact-check.
Likewise, multiple YouTube videos captured by flying drones over the site show no similar features to the image circulating on social media.
Getty's photos below, however, genuinely show the monolithic ruins of the site, which include large stones and terraces covered by woodland.
(Getty Images)
In 2023, researchers wrote in a now-retracted study that Gunung Padang was the "oldest known pyramid." The retraction cited a "major error" that was not identified during the peer review process, which found that radiocarbon dating was applied to soil samples not associated with artifacts or features that could be considered man-made.
"Therefore, the interpretation that the site is an ancient pyramid built 9000 or more years ago is incorrect, and the article must be retracted," the retraction read. However, the study authors stood by their findings.
The site dates to at least 5000 B.C. and is believed to have been built for worship or astronomy. (Getty Images)
The Gunung Padang megalithic site is constructed of columnar basaltic stones. At the site, there are five distinct terraces situated at the top of the hill. (Getty Images)
Archaeologist Tara Steimer-Herbet described the site in a
According to electromagnetic surveys, under the megalithic remains is a huge cavity corresponding to the burial chamber of a pyramid dating to before those of Egypt.
[…]
The staircase leading to the site is steep but its four hundred steps are in good condition… The blocks are made of an igneous prismatic rock whose dark brown color contrasts with the green of the surrounding vegetation. If the hill is arranged into 13 terraces, only the last 5 are sufficiently well preserved and developed for the searching eye to find. Shortly before reaching the summit, a strong retaining wall supports the first of the last five terraces. At this location lie the remains of a rectangular structure whose door opens to the north facing Gunung Gede. Its inner surface is covered with paving stones. To access the fourth terrace you must climb a narrow staircase in a retaining wall partially collapsed.
Parts of Gunung Padang can be seen from satellite imagery published online by Google Maps.
(Getty Images)