The decision, marking the largest archaeological restitution in Dutch history as part of re-examining its colonial past, was adopted on Friday by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science following a ruling by the Independent Commission on Colonial Collections.
The decision concluded that the fossil collection “never became the legal property of the Netherlands” and was acquired under coercion “against the will of the local population, causing them harm.”
The collection, previously managed by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, includes a skull fragment, a molar, and a femur of Homo erectus, dubbed “Java Man” by Dutch scientist Eugène Dubois, considered in the 19th century as the missing link between apes and humans following Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
“Java Man” was the oldest known hominid at the time of its discovery, with remains dated between 700,000 and 1.5 million years ago.
“This decision is based on a thorough and careful investigation,” Acting Minister of Education, Culture and Science Gouke Moes emphasized, highlighting the intention to organize the transfer “with the same rigor” along with Naturalis and its Indonesian partners.
“Indonesia and the Netherlands regard it as essential for scientific research with this collection to continue,” he added.
Naturalis director Marcel Beukeboom noted that the commission’s findings provided “new legal insights” making the restitution “the right choice,” expressing a desire to continue collaborating with Indonesian scientists.
The fossils were excavated in Indonesia at the end of the 19th century by scientist Dubois and are considered a vital source for research on human evolution.
The commission noted that the remains had “spiritual and economic value” for the local population and that there was pressure to identify archaeological sites.
This marks the sixth restitution conducted by the Netherlands based on recommendations from the Commission on Colonial Collections.
Earlier this year, 113 bronze sculptures were returned to Nigeria, and in December, a Mixtec-origin human skull inlaid with mosaics, acquired by a Dutch museum in the 1960s, was returned to Mexico.
Indonesia officially requested the return of the Dubois collection in 2022.
The Netherlands is working on the voluntary return of artworks stolen during World War II or the colonial period.
In 2020, the commission recommended the unconditional return of looted artworks if the country of origin requested it, cautioning that “historical injustices cannot be undone, but we can contribute to addressing them by taking responsibility for this past concerning colonial objects.”
The Council for Culture estimates that there are hundreds of thousands of colonial objects scattered across museum collections in the Netherlands, including swords, flags, religious items, statues, paintings, jewelry, documents, ceramics, armor, and even human remains.
