Ancient boomerangs found in Australia that were misused (photo)

The Australian aborigines used boomerangs to “control” fire, fight, hunt and for ritual purposes.

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New research by scientists analyzed a rare collection of boomerangs from the Cooper Creek River, located near Innaminka in the far northeast of South Australia. SciTechDaily.

Four boomerangs and one piece of wood were found in the creek bed during a drought in 2017 and 2018 by National Park workers Jason Leaterland and Katherine Leaterland.

Then scientists from the Australian Organization for Nuclear Science and Technology, Flinders Universities (Australia) and Toulouse (France) conducted a morphological analysis of the artifacts found.

And in order to determine the age, the experts carried out radiocarbon dating. It showed that the age of the boomerangs varied between about 1650-1830 A.D. – a time spanning two centuries before the invasion of the region by European explorers such as Charles Sturt and Robert O’Hara Burke.

“The collection showcases a variety of forms and functions representing the diverse cultural activities and daily lives of Aboriginal people who lived near water bodies in the Cooper Creek region during this period,” said Professor Amy Roberts of Flinders University.

The authors concluded that boomerangs were used for fighting, hunting, digging, controlling fire, and for ceremonial purposes. According to the researchers, ordinary boomerangs appeared in different parts of the world independently, but many attribute the creation of returning boomerangs to the aborigines of Australia.

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