Netherlands to return more than 28,000 fossils to Indonesia from the Dubois Collection

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Dutch government has agreed to return more than 28,000 fossils to Indonesia from the Dubois Collection, after a commission concluded the specimens were removed during the colonial era against the will of the people. The decision underscores a growing wave of restitution as European institutions confront legacies from colonial rule.

The Dubois Collection includes a skull fragment excavated from the Solo River on Java, widely regarded as Java Man and the first fossil evidence of Homo erectus, an early ancestor of Homo sapiens. The fossils are currently housed at the Naturalis museum in Leiden, part of a broader push to reconcile scientific study with the rights and heritage of communities from which artifacts were taken.

Following extensive research, the Dutch Colonial Collections Committee determined that the circumstances under which the fossils were obtained likely violated the wishes of local communities, with sites sometimes kept secret and locals coerced into revealing locations. The decision to return the collection is part of a broader reckoning with artifacts and specimens taken during colonial times.

Education, Culture and Science Minister Gouke Moes sealed the agreement Friday with Indonesia's Fadli Zon at the Naturalis museum in Leiden, where the collection is housed. "The committee's advice is based on extensive and thorough research," Moes said in a statement. "We will apply the same level of thoroughness in working with Naturalis and our Indonesian partners to ensure the transfer proceeds smoothly. Indonesia and the Netherlands believe it is important for the collection to remain a source of scientific research."

Scholars note that Homo erectus arose in Africa about 2 million years ago and spread into Asia and possibly Europe. Java sites show dating to more than 1.5 million years ago, and dating techniques suggest Homo erectus died out at least 35,000 years before the arrival of Homo sapiens in Java.

The move reflects a broader trend in which Western nations are returning looted artifacts and other objects as part of a reckoning with colonial histories. Earlier this month Madagascar received three skulls of Indigenous warriors returned from France, including one believed to belong to a king killed by French troops 128 years ago, marking the first use of a 2023 French law regulating the return of human remains to its former colonies. In Berlin, a museum announced it was ready to return hundreds of human skulls from the former German colony of East Africa, and France said it was returning statues, royal thrones and sacred altars taken from Benin. Belgium has returned a gold-capped tooth belonging to Patrice Lumumba.

Indonesia and the Netherlands say the collection will remain a source of scientific research while honoring its cultural significance to local communities.