Jonathan Frederic De Santos

The thigh bones of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), a Homo erectus, and a modern human (Homo sapiens). It was on display at the exhibition 'Dubois' in the National Museum of Natural History 'Naturalis' in Leiden, the Netherlands. Peter Maas. CC BY-SA 3.0

Article (news)

Deutsche Welle

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1759020534865ChimpHumanThighBones-NaturalisPeterMaas2009.JPG" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The thigh bones of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), a Homo erectus, and a modern human (Homo sapiens). It was on display at the exhibition &#x27;Dubois&#x27; in the National Museum of Natural History &#x27;Naturalis&#x27; in Leiden, the Netherlands. Peter Maas. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">CC BY-SA 3.0</a></span></span></span></div><p>The Netherlands announced on Friday that it will give back a collection of thousands of fossils to Indonesia.</p><p>The collection is made up of over 28,000 fossils, including some of the so-called &quot;Java Man&quot; bones. These are the first known fossils of the Homo erectus, an ancestor to the Homo sapiens species.</p><p>&quot;At Indonesia&#x27;s request, the Netherlands is transferring more than 28,000 fossils from the Dubois collection,&quot; the Dutch government said.</p><p>The soon to be retrieved fossils are known as the Dubois Collection, named after the Dutch anthropologist Eugene Dubois. Dubois extracted the fossils from Indonesia in 1891, time during which the country was a Dutch colony.</p><p>The &quot;Java Man&quot; part of the collection is considered to include the first fossils to ever show links between apes and humans. It often receives that name because its discovery was made on the Indonesian island of Java.</p><p>&quot;This collection is an important resource in research into human evolution,&quot; the Dutch government said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/classified-odd/03/03/23/archeologists-find-centuries-old-human-remains-in-cebu"><strong>Archeologists find centuries-old human remains, artifacts in Cebu</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Fossils &#x27;of spiritual and economic importance&#x27; to Indonesia</strong></div><p>Friday&#x27;s announcement comes after the Dutch Independent Colonial Collections Committee found that &quot;the circumstances under which the fossils were obtained&quot; and came to the conclusion that &quot;it is likely they were removed against the will of the people, resulting in an act of injustice against them.&quot;</p><p>it recommended that the fossils be repatriated to Indonesia.</p><p>&quot;Fossils were of spiritual and economic significance to the local population,&quot; said the Dutch Culture Ministry.</p><p>Indonesia became independent from the Netherlands in August 1945. The Netherlands had occupied the Southeast Asian archipelago for three centuries and did not accept the independence of the territory after four years later, in 1949.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2025/7/30/-for-wed-10-am-national-museum-previews-new-baler-site-ahead-of-public-opening-0923"><strong>National Museum previews new Baler site ahead of public opening<br/></strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Netherlands reckons with colonial collections<br/></strong></div><p>This is the sixth time the Netherlands has returned items based on the recommendations of the Dutch Independent Colonial Collections Committee.</p><p>The Dubois collection is the latest example, however, the Netherlands have also been gradually returning other pieces once obtained from former colonies.</p><p>Earlier this year, for example, the Dutch government returned 113 of the ancient Benin Bronzes collection to Nigeria.</p>

<p>The Netherlands will give back the "Java Man" fossils that were taken "against the will of the people" from colonial Indonesia. The fossils were the first to show links between apes and humans.</p>

The Netherlands will give back the "Java Man" fossils that were taken "against the will of the people" from colonial Indonesia. The fossils were the first to show links between apes and humans.

Netherlands to return 'Java Man' fossils to Indonesia

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Netherlands to return 'Java Man' fossils to Indonesia

Deutsche Welle

Published Sep 28, 2025 09:06 AM PHT

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Netherlands

Indonesia

Java Man

Fossils

Archeology

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