News item | 26-09-2025 | 10:30 am
At the request of Indonesia, the Netherlands is transferring more than 28,000 fossils from the Dubois collection. Today, Minister Moes (Education, Culture and Science) handed over a letter to the Indonesian minister Fadli Zon (culture) in which this decision was announced. The collection is now managed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden.
Minister Gouke Moes has decided to return based on the advice of the independent colonial collections committee. This collection is an important source in research into the evolution of man. Important pieces from the Dubois collection are a skull cap, a molar and a thigh that are attributed to a gay erectus, a human-like that is a link between the monkey and humans.
Gouke Moes Minister of Education, Culture and Science: “The advice of the committee is based on extensive and careful research. Together with Naturalis and the Indonesian partners with the same care, we are going to work with the same care to arrange the transfer properly. Indonesia and the Netherlands think it is important that scientific research with this collection continues.”
Marcel Beukeboom, general director of Naturalis: “The sound advice has yielded new legal insights, making a refund a correct choice. We look forward to continuing our research cooperation with Indonesian scientists.”
Unconditional refund
The fossils were dug up in Indonesia at the end of the 19th century by Dutch scientist Eugène Dubois. The Colonial Collections Committee finds that the investigation shows that the Dubois collection has never become the property of the Netherlands.
In addition, the Commission is of the opinion that the circumstances under which the fossils have been obtained make it plausible that these were taken away against the will of the population and the population was wronged with this. Fossils were of spiritual and economic significance for the locals, and coercion was used to identify locations.
The committee therefore advises to unconditional refund of the Dubois collection to Indonesia. This is the 6th time that the Netherlands has a refund based on the committee’s advice.
Great scientific value
The Dubois collection is of great value for scientific research. Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Indonesian scientists have been working intensively together in research into the Dubois collection for decades. This return is a new chapter in the history of the collection and the next step in the strong cultural and scientific cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands.