This article tackles the specific challenges that arise when studying the provenance of natural and human sciences collections, a unique and extremely diverse form of heritage whose establishment and uses are closely tied to scientific practices. It is often assumed that provenance studies apply only to requests for the restitution of human remains. To correct this misunderstanding and address provenance research as a whole, we organised the symposium Provenance Research of Natural and Human Sciences Collections: Museology and History for the Present Day in Paris at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in October 2025. We wanted to start a conversation about the need for museum professionals and researchers to have an intimate and historically-informed understanding of these collections – whether they are held at universities, natural history museums or multidisciplinary museums – and of the many issues raised by this subject. Scientific establishments are responsible for researching, documenting and situating their specimens or scientific collections in their historical contexts. They must understand the roles played by all actors, be they individuals (naturalists, collectors or community members) or institutions.
Péquignot et al. (Fri,) studied this question.