"Java Man" Comes Home: Netherlands Returns Fossil Collection to Indonesia in Historic Move

September 26, 2025 | 11:00 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After a long wait, the government of the Netherlands has finally returned theDubois collection, including the fossil of Homo erectus (formerly known as Pithecanthropus erectus) to Indonesia. The ancient human fossil, known as "Java Man," was discovered by Dutch anatomist Eugène Dubois in Trinil, Ngawi, Central Java in 1891 and has since been kept in a museum in the Netherlands.

Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science Gouke Moes symbolically handed over the collection to Indonesian Minister of Culture Fadli Zon on Friday, September 26, 2025, at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands.

According to Fadli Zon, this repatriation restores Indonesia's sovereignty and a strategic victory after more than a century of knowledge about the origin of humans being separated from its homeland.

"Today, we close the gap in history and restore the dignity of knowledge that was born in Trinil. The return of Dubois' collection is evidence of Indonesia's cultural diplomacy effectiveness, legitimizing Indonesia's ownership of the collection while maintaining access to global research," he said in a statement received by Tempo on Friday, September 26, 2025.

In addition to the Java Man fossil, the Netherlands will also return approximately 28,000 fossils or specimens from Dubois's collection, including fossils found by Dubois in Sumatra and Java. This collection has been managed by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science Gouke Moes (left) during the handover of the repatriation of Eugene Dubois's collection with Minister of Culture Fadli Zon at the Naturalis Museum, Leiden, Netherlands. Doc. Naturalis Museum

This return was made at the request of the Indonesian government. According to Gouke Moes, they agreed to the request based on the advice of an independent Colonial Collections Committee. "The Committee’s advice is based on extensive and thorough research. We will apply the same level of thoroughness in working with Naturalis and our Indonesian partners to ensure the transfer proceeds smoothly," he said. "Indonesia and the Netherlands believe it is important for the collection to remain a source of scientific research."

Moes said this collection is a valuable resource that contributes to the scientific understanding of human evolution. Important items in Dubois' collection include a skullcap, a molar, and a thigh bone from Homo erectus, a hominid that Dubois considered to be the link between apes and humans.

Director-General of the Naturalis Museum Marcel Beukeboom said the comprehensive advice from the Committee has resulted in new legal insights, confirming the return of artifacts as the right path. "We look forward to continuing our research collaboration with Indonesian scientists with undiminished enthusiasm," he said.

The fossils were excavated in Indonesia in the late 19th century by Eugène Dubois. The Colonial Collections Committee's research findings concluded that the Netherlands never owned Dubois's collection. The Committee argued that the circumstances under which the fossils were obtained likely involved actions against the will of the local community, leading to injustices.

According to the Committee, these fossils hold spiritual and economic value for the local community, who were forced to disclose fossil sites. Therefore, the Committee recommended that Dubois's collection be unconditionally returned to Indonesia.

This marks the sixth time that the Netherlands has returned these artifacts based on the Committee's advice. Neither Moes nor Beukeboom provided further details regarding when tens of thousands of Dubois's collection will be returned to Indonesia.

Moes declared this return as the Netherlands' commitment to responsibly carry out the repatriation of colonial collections. Fadli Zon welcomed it as a historic step that enriches national archaeological research and strengthens cultural cooperation.

"The Dubois collection has returned home, but the door to global knowledge remains open. Indonesia now stands as a subject of knowledge, not just a site for discoveries," Fadli said.

Fadli said the return of Dubois' collection is the result of the long-term work of the Repatriation Team at the Ministry of Culture, which has been conducting origin research and intensive negotiations with the Dutch Colonial Collection Committee since early 2025.

The Indonesian Ministry of Culture has also developed a technical plan for the transfer of the collection, which has been agreed upon with the Dutch government. Both parties have also agreed to form a joint team to secure the stages of repatriation and strengthen post-repatriation research cooperation, inventory, conservation, scientific publication, exhibitions, digitization, and capacity building for researchers and collection managers.

Harry Widianto, an archaeologist at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), welcomed the return of the Homo erectus fossil. "We are proud of the return of the Homo erectus holotype to its homeland after more than a century wandering Europe, significantly complementing the collection of ancient human Homo erectus findings in Java as one of the evolution sites of human beings," Harry told Tempo. "Welcome home again, Pithecanthropus erectus!"

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