THE Netherlands will give back a major fossil collection, granting its former colony’s request to recover historical artefacts, including bones of the “Java Man”, the first known fossils of the Homo erectus species from which humans are believed to have evolved.
“At Indonesia’s request, the Netherlands is transferring more than 28,000 fossils from the Dubois collection ... This collection is an important resource in research into human evolution,” the Dutch government said on Friday.
It added it had taken that decision on the advice of the independent Colonial Collections Committee and that the Dutch Culture Minister Gouke Moes had informed his Indonesian counterpart Fadli Zon of the move.
“In addition, the Committee considers that the circumstances under which the fossils were obtained make it plausible that they were taken against the will of the population and that the population was wronged by this,” it added.
It is the sixth time artefacts were returned based on the Committee’s recommendations. Two years ago, the Netherlands repatriated more than 200 artefacts to Indonesia. — Reuters
