Fascist Prehistory: Nationalist and Internationalist dimensions of the human origin researches in the fascist capital (1925-1942)

Project Information

FascistPrehistory

Grant agreement ID: 101154364

DOI

10.3030/101154364

Project terminated on 31 January 2026

EC signature date 10 April 2024

Start date 15 March 2025

End date 14 March 2027

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 187 624,32

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FascistPrehistory (Fascist Prehistory: Nationalist and Internationalist dimensions of the human origin researches in the fascist capital (1925-1942))

Reporting period: 2025-03-15 to 2027-03-14

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In one hand, FascistPrehistory (FP) consider that, in each historical moment, scientific universalism can be described as a configuration of relationships between the national and international horizons of scientific activity of palaeontologist in fascist Rome (objective 1). Objective 1 intended to analyse the relationships between the national and international horizons of scientific activity of palaeontologist in fascist Rome by providing a map of these interactions based on the network analysis of the dataset build on the professional network of Alberto Carlo Blanc. The network was intended to be reconstructed thanks to the correspondences conserved in a private archive.
In the other hand, FP explores the resonances between religious and scientific universalism in the public sphere (objective 2). Looking together at unpublished Vatican documents, the Catholic and Vatican press, and documents from the 1925 Vatican Missionary Exhibition, along with Italian press and other documents from scientific archives, objective 2 was to examine the dissemination of discourses on universalism (scientific, Catholic, fascist) that were circulating in the Roman public space between the two world wars.
Producing historical situated research on scientific universalists ambitions produced also in non democratics Countries, FP provide a historical model for thinking about this topic. It also aims to offer a reflection to overtake nationally bounded narratives on scientific activity and fascist heritage in the Italian public sphere, and provide access to an understanding of some complex and often polemical aspects of the history of fascism to a wider public. FascistPrehistory also relates to the policy context of the European Union, advocating the importance of historical interpretations for debates about our most crucial societal preoccupations. Science is one of the vectors of the European integration process: historical knowledge provided in forms suitable to enriching reflections on science and its political dimensions is urgently needed to deepen our collective awareness of modern dynamics of power and decision making.

Bringing together leading experts in the fields of scientific internationalism (Maastricht University) and Catholic and contemporary history (secondment, École française de Rome), FascistPrehistory aims to renew our understanding of the role of the sciences in the building of a cosmopolitan culture under fascism.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

1) Thanks to my affiliation with a research institution based in the Netherlands, I was invited to organise an UISPP intersection congress panel held in Indonesia (former colony of the Netherlands) in November 2025 with some French colleagues. This panel was intended to bring together scholars working, among other features of Indonesian prehistory, on the national, international and colonial dimensions that shaped the collecting practices of palaeontologists. Thus, as well as enabling me to meet fellow archaeologists and historians from all over the world and extend my network of collaborations to Asia, this panel allowed me to reflect on my area of study through the lens of a different geographical region and the collaboration of various scientific and research institutions.

Furthermore, the « return » of the Dubois collection (comprising Homo erectus remains discovered during the colonial era), recently authorised by the Netherlands, has offered unprecedented and significant opportunities for discussion. In this regard, we organised a special session of our panel, featuring the Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative of Indonesia to UNESCO, Dr. Ismu Ismunandar who dialogued with Dr. Rosalie Hans, from NIOD, the government agency that carried out the expert assessment recommending the return of the collection, which Indonesia has been awaiting since the Second World War1.


2) Looking together at unpublished Vatican documents, the Catholic and Vatican press, and documents from the 1925 Vatican Missionary Exhibition, along with Italian press and other documents from scientific archives, objective 2 was to examine the dissemination of discourses on universalism (scientific, Catholic, fascist) that were circulating in the Roman public space.
I had already begun its researches during my previous postdoctoral research into the scientific collections exhibited at the opening of La Sapienza University’s new, fascist-era, campus in 1935. On the other hand, the objective was almost entirely achievable within the time I had available, even though the dissemination will take longer than the duration of the grant. Over these ten and a half months, I have been able to make progress with archival research and to design and organise a workshop entitled ‘Situating Universalism’, which will bring together many specialists in this field and will enable me to complete the work for my Objective 2 whilst, at the same time, establishing collaborations that will be invaluable for my future career at the CNRS.
In addition to archival research (Vatican Archives, Central Archives of the State in Rome) and in some libraries (Biblioteca Caetani, Storia moderna e contemporanea, Rome), I have presented the project at the Fasos (UM) historians’ seminar in March 2024, followed by another presentation of the results in September 2025, as part of the department’s annual ‘summer harvest’ meeting. A group of researchers from UM (Fasos) also trained me with a mock presentation for the CNRS (French) exam in April 2025. I have also participated at some secondment institution (EfR) seminars, such as the “Les 5 à 7 de la Crypta” seminar in history of archaeology, and presented her researches twice at the UNIONE seminar Rome Modern Italy Seminar.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This IUSPP symposium in Salatiga (Indonesia) will be published as open access by Archeopress. Together with Adèle Chevalier, Géraldine Delley and Sébastien Plutniak, we have initiated the publication process and are currently writing the introduction. At present, six papers are being prepared, and the Introduction.
Moving beyond the link established in the literature between archaeology and nationalism, this work will demonstrate, through the publication of case studies focusing on the history of Indonesian palaeontology, how research on Homo erectus was shaped by the interplay of archaeologists’ activities at both national and international levels between the late 19th century and the present day. It will constitute original research and will significantly advance our understanding of the construction of scientific universalism in colonial and post-colonial contexts.


The workshop ‘Situating Universalism’ will host my presentation on prehistory in Rome in the 1920s, between Fascism and the Vatican and will be published. Eight of the authors of the papers have agreed to publish their contributions in the Journal for the History of Knowledge, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal (Brepols). In addition to the panel on the 1920s in Rome, which is directly linked to MSCA funding, the other two panels are the result of research generated by the MSCA and thanks to collaborations established in the Netherlands and Indonesia. In particular, the panel on African prehistory during decolonisation, between UNESCO and the pan-Africanist horizon of the Black Sciences, is particularly innovative and unprecedented.