Mammoths, Mosasaurs, and More: The Meaning of Fossils Collected and Displayed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center and its Predecessor Museums (1878-2024)

Abstract

The following paper investigates the meaning of fossils at the RGM, NNM, and Naturalis from the years 1878, when the RGM became an independent institution, to 2024, the composition of the museum in its configuration at the time of writing. The contextualization of fossils at national museums imbues them with a certain national significance, as such they are considered politicized. To this end, Chapter Two (1878-1939) sees fossils as extensions of the Dutch Colonial state. Fossils are placed within a system of extraction and research that helps to justify colonial rule. Further, as seen in the case study of Eugene Dubois’ Java Man, this system allowed the RGM to make Dutch national heritage claims over extracted colonial material. Chapter Three (1945-1989) investigates how the changed political situation of the Netherlands was reflected in a change of the material conditions of which fossils it excavated, and how this led to the creation of a national paleontological tradition with particular qualities. It finds that this tradition is based on Pleistocene mammalian fossils, and is often associated with extraction from water. This gives the Netherlands both a historicized deep-time genesis, and a distinct paleontological tradition. Chapter Four (1989-2024) investigates how dinosaurs entered the museum and the transformative effect this had on existing paleontological displays. This relies on first setting up the cultural impact dinomania had on the Netherlands. The chapter finds that dinosaurs either remove Pleistocene fossils from national discourse, or otherwise give them a more humble character, depending on the relational spatial placement between dinosaur and Pleistocene displays. The paper concludes that the meaning of paleontology is derived from the material conditions of its excavation and the cultural structures within which it is embedded. This research has broader implications for how we construct the link between deep time and national history, and opens the doors to questions about paleontological heritage.