The UISPP Commission on the History of Archaeology, in collaboration with the UISPP Commission “Southeast Asia: Human Evolution, Dispersals and Adaptations” is organising a symposium “Past and future of archaeological collections. Field exploration, movements, preservation (19th-21st c.)” to be held at the “Asian Prehistory Today Bridging Science, Heritage and Development” conference (October, 27 to 6 November, 6, 2025) on October 30 in Salatiga.
Abstract
This symposium will concentrate on the creation, transmission and movements of prehistoric collections –including natural history specimens, human remains, and artefacts–, from the colonial era to the present day. Particular emphasis will be placed on collections from Southeast Asia, however, case studies drawn from other historical and geographical contexts are welcome too. It will concentrate on three topics and ends with a special session on the Dubois collection:
- History, Politics and Practices of Colonial Field Explorations
- Diachronic perspectives on scientific and heritage collections: governance, narratives and museography
- Movements, distributions and reconfigurations of collections
Convenors
- Maddalena Cataldi, Sapienza University of Roma, Italy
- Adèle Chevalier, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, France
- Géraldine Delley, Latenium museum & University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Sébastien Plutniak, Centre national de la Recherche scientifique, lab. CITERES, Tours, France
Program
8:30 am Maddalena Cataldi, Adèle Chevalier, Géraldine Delley, Sébastien Plutniak. Introduction
Session 1. History, Politics and Practices of Colonial Field Explorations
- 9 am. Robert-Jan Wille (Utrecht University). Fossil Infrastructures. The Dutch-German Science Complex, Javanese Aristocrats and the Construction of Indonesian Prehistory in the Nineteenth Century
- 9:20 am. Meilinda Pipit (Indonesian Heritage Agency). Colonial Collecting Practices, Monetary Incentives, and the Modern Stewardship of the Sangiran Collections
- 9:40 am. Adèle Chevalier (CNRS-Centre Alexandre Koyré, UMR 8560, Paris). Collect and dispersion of Cambodian prehistoric collections under colonial rule: Ludovic Jammes’ strategy (1880’s-1890’s)
- 10 am. General discussion
- 10:30 am Coffee break
Session 2. Diachronic perspectives on scientific and heritage collections: governance, narratives and museography
- 11:00 am. Unggul Prasetyo Wibowo (Bandung Geological Museum). Bandung Geological Museum Through the Ages
- 11:20 am. Halmi Insani (Bandung Geological Museum). Reroute and Resettle: Viewpoint on The Collection Conveyed by Von Koenigswald
- 11:40 am. Medha de Alwis (Postgraduate Institute of Archaeological Research, Sri Lanka). From Custody to Continuity: Law, Archaeological Collections, and Legacy of Sigiriya
- 12:00 am General discussion
- 12:30-2:00 pm LUNCH
Session 3. Movements, distributions and reconfigurations of collections
- 2:00 pm. Narciso Sabão Domingos, François Bon and Isis Mesfin (Université de Toulouse Jean-Jaurès; Instituto Superior de Ciências de Educação do Sumbe, Angola ; Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (UMR 7194); Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park). Abbé Henri Breuil and the Circulation of Prehistoric Artifacts from the Belgian Congo
- 2:20 am. Garance Cachard and Amélie Vialet (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (UMR 7194) Paris; Université de Perpignan). Charles Varat’s Expedition to Korea during the Late 19th century and the Introduction of Korean Archaeological Collections in France
- 2:40 am. Clémence Le Meur (Centre de l’Asie du Sud-Est (UMR 8170), Paris). From Colonial Exhibition to Relative Oblivion: Fates of Đông Sơn Bronze Drums in French Museum Collections
- 3 pm. Clément Ménard (Centre européen de recherches préhistoriques de Tautavel (UMR 7194). Out of Eastern Africa: movement of Prehistoric collections during the 20th century
- 3:20 pm. General discussion
- 4:00-4.20 pm. Break
Special session. The return of the Dubois collection: research, politics and the future of heritage
- 4:20-4:50 pm. Rosalie Hans (NIOD guest researcher). Research for Return: the process, findings and lessons of historical research into the Dubois Collection
- 4.50-5:20 pm. Ismu Ismunandar (Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative of Indonesia to UNESCO). The Homecoming of Java Man: A Milestone for Indonesia and a New Paradigm for Colonial Collections
- 5:20-6:30 pm. General discussion
Side event. Open-archeOcsean: Forum Discussion on Open Data in Southeast Asian Archaeology. Friday, 31 October, 3-5pm
This meeting, open to all, is intended as a forum to discuss current issues and perspectives related to open data in Southeast Asian archaeology.
- Pros and cons of open data publication?
- What are the current barriers to open data publication?
- What infrastructures? Is funding necessary?
- How articulating FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsability, Ethics) principles?
- How to train students and colleagues?
- What are SE Asian archaeology particularities to these regards?
To launch and fuel discussions, the Open-archeOcsean catalogue of open-source datasets for Southeast Asia and Pacific archaeology will be presented during the first part of the meeting.
Whether you are an expert or a novice, reluctant or an open science advocate, your personal views and testimonies are welcome to collectively move forward in our understanding of the potential and limits of open data publication in SE Asia archaeology!
A Map to Navigate the Data Archipelago: the Open-archeOcsean Catalogue of Open-source Datasets for Southeast Asia and Pacific Archaeology
Archaeological datasets are sparsely published and distributed, and efforts to collect and assemble them have been an inherent part of this scientific practice for decades. Contrary to other parts of the globe, Southeast Asia and Pacific archaeology does not benefit from large data infrastructures (e.g. Ariadne in Europe, tDAR in the USA, ADS in the United Kingdom, DANS in the Netherlands, etc.), resulting in higher dispersion of datasets and research efforts. In this context, an online dataset catalogue has been recently created and coined Open-archeOcsean in reference to the European project “OCSEAN. Oceanic and Southeast Asian Navigators” in which it was developed. Open-archeOcsean is an interactive online catalogue of open-source datasets for Pacific and Southeast Asia Archaeology, designed in compliance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). Based on open-source software and distributed under open licences, this tool collates and allows for retrieving resources relevant to all archaeologists interested in this region of the world. As a collaborative initiative, Open-archeOcsean is an evolving tool, and contributions from users are welcome and beneficial to the whole archaeological community and broader audience.