There will be much more to say, esp. against the background of my research on the legal classification of hominin fossils. Watch this space for a blog post, and in the meantime, consider joining my upcoming lectures about human remains! /end

paul-stewens.com/news/

Java Man will now return as a fossil/cultural object, without any differential treatment on account of being a human ancestor. The fossils are not treated as human remains. This might be interesting for Zambia's struggle to return the Broken Hill skull from UK which they do claim as an ancestor. /6

The NL gov't also recognises that the fossils "held spiritual and economic value for local people". This puts the Dubois collection in the context of the debate surrounding the debate on colonial loot. Cultural & natural artifacts are two sides of the same coin. /5

www.government.nl/latest/news/...

I'm not aware of any other case where such a significant amount of fossils has been returned. This is an unprecedented, groundbreaking decision - and not only by the standards of natural history; I am not aware of any large-scale restitutions such as this one for art/antiquities, either. /4

The heart of the collection are the skullcap, femur and molar of a Homo erectus ("Java Man") which local workers, directed by Dutch anatomist Eugène #Dubois discovered in the 1890s. I've seen the exhibit @naturalis.bsky.social and it brilliantly integrates the fossils with a live reconstruction. /3

The return is the result of an official request which the Indonesian government submitted in 2022. An independent commission has now recommended the return of the collection in light of the circumstances of their #colonial acquisition. /2

restitutionmatters.org/news-item/br...

Update: The post is online!

bsky.app/profile/p-st...

In terms of substance, I take particular issue with the "legal gray area" argument and the allegedly imprecise wording of the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Expect a blog post. [fin]

Not sure honestly, I don't think these authorities are super active on any social media platform...

True, but a return based on a museum-level agreement would be seen as illegal. As part of a public collection, the fossil (ironically) is 🇩🇪 national cultural property that can only be exported with a license (Sections 6+23 Cultural Property Protection Act).
www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_kgs...

Being the author of said legal analysis, I can confirm that in my opinion, the @smnstuttgart.bsky.social did not acquire good title to the fossil and that it remains the property of Brazil.

@alinemghilardi.bsky.social: Maybe it could make sense to clarify this for the campaign? I think the pressure should be put on those institutions that actually call the shots, and these are the state government (@regierungbw.bsky.social) and, even more so, the science ministry (@mwk-bw.bsky.social).