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THE NETHERLANDS will return a collection of colonial-era fossils to Indonesia, based on the conclusion of an independent advisory committee that the fossils were illegally acquired during the colonial era. The decision to return was formalized in a letter from Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science Gouke Moes addressed to the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, Fadli Zon.
The collection, excavated in Indonesia in the late 19th century, is currently managed by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands. The collection includes a skull, a molar tooth, and a femur related to Homo erectus, a key species in the human evolutionary chain.
“The committee’s recommendation is based on extensive and careful research,” Moes said in a statement.
“We will work with the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and our Indonesian partners with equal care to arrange this return properly,” he said.
The independent Colonial Collections Commission recommended unconditional restitution after its investigation concluded that the collection never legally belonged to the Netherlands.
The commission found that the circumstances of the extraction reasonably indicate that the fossils were taken against the will of the local population, for whom the fossils held spiritual and economic significance. The commission also found that coercion was used to identify the excavation site.
“This comprehensive recommendation provides new legal insights, making restitution a viable option,” said Marcel Beukeboom, director general of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center. [antaranews]
