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Boomerangs return with greater insights into ample uses
If you thought all boomerangs were used solely for throwing and – hopefully – returning then think again, because new research by a team of Griffith University archaeologists suggests that Aboriginal Australians employed the traditional curved wooden objects for so many more purposes.
PhD candidate Eva Martellotta at the Australian Museum.
The team from Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE) analysed microscopic traces on the surfaces of 100 boomerangs from across each state and territory curated by the Australian Museum in Sydney.
The findings constitute the first traceological identification of hardwood boomerangs being used for shaping stone tools in various Aboriginal Australian contexts and have been published in Journal of Archaeological Science – Reports.