The ‘Java Man’ does not belong to Indonesia, but to all of humanity

Like a piece of nature, the “Java Man” fossils do not belong to the Netherlands or Indonesia. They belong to all of humanity, says Carel von Vaupel Klein, a former associate professor of systematic zoology at Leiden University.

As plundered heritage, ‘Java man’ belongs to Indonesia, says loyalty in the editorial commentary (October 20) after the Indonesian claim of these fossil remains. A well-constructed argument in itself, but unfortunately based on a faulty premise.

This does not concern “cultural” heritage. The skullcap, femur and tooth are not man-made artifacts, they belong to nature. The hypothesis according to which they are vestiges “telling something of Indonesia’s past” also stems from an overly limited vision: first of all, they tell something of the history of man in general.

The fossils are therefore not “from the Netherlands” or “from Indonesia”, but from all of humanity. Coincidentally, they were found in Java, but it is not true that the range of Pithecanthropus erectus, as the species was initially called, was limited to this current island. And in fact, it doesn’t matter either: something that belongs to all of humanity and has scientific value should be managed by science.

well informed

Because the science is international, the management in this case therefore belongs to the “scientific world” or experts from all over the world. Where this material is stored is of secondary importance: as long as it is properly maintained and stored safely.

Since there is (yet) no international museum (eg under the United Nations flag), it does not actually matter whether this fossil is in Leiden or Jakarta. As far as the ultimate location is concerned, only the opinions of specialized scientists are then important. This is not a political domain and therefore politicians should stay away from it, as well as museum directors, possible ‘activists’ and other ‘stakeholders’. Only if the latter are also scientists should they be allowed to participate in such a discussion, provided that for the occasion they remove their administrative hats and keep only their scientific hats.

As well as a scientific approach, however, there also seems to be an emotional aspect at play here. Such influence should now be ruled out. Before the Netherlands took over as colonizers in the area then referred to as the Dutch East Indies, there was no talk of a “great empire” the size of present-day Indonesia. The country at that time consisted of a large number of small “kingdoms” ruled by local princes, princes or other leaders.

If at the time the leaders of these empires authorized paleontological excavations (and were perhaps financially compensated for this), then there is no question of “theft” either. You can only talk about it if the local authorities have not been paid or insufficiently paid for the stolen objects (which of course also applies mutatis mutandis to “looted art”).

Hold back the feelings

It can be said that present-day Indonesians, in this case their national government, “believe” that the approximately 40,000 fossils in the Dubois collection “belong to Indonesia”. But if the feelings are not unimportant, they must always be contained by the mind. And feelings are allowed to play a role in politics, but certainly not in science.

It is therefore to be hoped that the Gonçalves Commission, which assesses claims for the return of cultural objects that may have been illegally introduced into the Netherlands during the colonial era, will be composed exclusively of qualified scientists. Since committee members also have an “administrative ceiling,” they should keep it out of the room.

Only objective reasoning, stemming from pure discussion, can lead to acceptable scientific (and subsequently also political-administrative) decision-making.

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Java man belongs to Indonesia

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