Law Will Find A Way: Legal Research at the Intersection with Palaeontology

Fossils, the remains of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures, are not an evident concern for legal scholars. Upon closer consideration, however, it becomes apparent that there is a broad range of pressing legal issues that relate to the extraction, transfer, and ownership of palaeontological objects. This contribution outlines Law and Palaeontology as a field of research that applies a material approach and studies legal issues that relate to fossils. A number of examples and case studies illustrate the diversity of legal fields one can draw on for this: among them colonial looted fossils, the environmental law implications of the trade in mammoth ivory, and the legality of excavations in occupied Crimea under international humanitarian law. The relevance of these issues has so far been disproportionate to the little attention Law and Palaeontology has received. In the absence of legal expertise from debates in palaeontology, a culture of disregard for the law continues to thrive. The considerable demand in palaeontology for legal researchers to, inter alia, weigh in, to review the provenance declarations of studies on foreign fossils, to contribute research methodologies, and to assist collections to meet their due diligence obligations is far from being met. Therefore, legal researchers should consider Law and Palaeontology as a highly visible, versatile, interdisciplinary, and policy-relevant field of research that would develop legal expertise sorely needed in palaeontology.