Archaeologists Look Further Into Mt Padang

VIVAnews – A team of archaeologists studying Mount Padang has started researching on the toponymy around the site. The team has discovered a tie-in of the place names of Karyamukti Village, Cempaka District, Cianjur Regency, West Java. 

“It’s an important finding as it has become a way of studying people’s life and its relation with the existence of the megalithic site. We have discovered how different places are named and strongly suggest the existence of the megalithic site,” said an expert of geography from University of Indonesia, Taqyuddin, to VIVAnews.

The team cited such names as Ciukir, Cikute, Empang Village, Campaka. In Ciukir, the team discovered various kinds of flakes of prose remains and tools which were believed to have been used at that time to produce various kinds of stones now known as Mount Padang Megalithic site.  

Cikute, located around 200 meters from the site, signals the existence of a fortress. 'Kute' itself is simply derived from an ancient Javanese language which means fortress. An expanse of rocks being opened by archeologists on the eastern side with the distance of almost 200 meters from the main building is actually close to Cikute’s river mouth. 

Empang Village, from a research confirmed by local legend, was a place to wash or dip the rocks from Ciukir before they were arranged to form the megalithic site. 

“The research and the local folklore mentioned that magnolia flowers have been found growing on the first terrace of Mount Padang for ages. This proves the toponymy is inseparable from the existence of Mount Padang megalithic site as well as the mystery of the previous civilization,” he said. 

The team went on collecting data on toponymy in an area covering 100 square kilometers from the center of Mount Padang site.