Latest news with #boomerang
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Discover Roman-Era Weapon, Oldest on Record
Thanks to radiocarbon dating, archaeologists have finally been able to date an ancient boomerang first found 40 years ago. The boomerang was discovered in 1985 in the Obłazowa Cave within Poland's limestone cliffs. It was crafted from a woolly mammoth's tusk and was initially believed to be about 18,000 years old, making it the oldest boomerang ever found on record. But a new study published in PLOS ONE has revealed some surprising information. By using an advanced technique known as Bayesian modeling, Sahra Talamo and her international team of researchers have found that the boomerang likely originated between 42,000 and 39,000 years ago. They determined the date by analyzing the indirect dating of human and animal remains discovered near the boomerang's location. This dating would make the boomerang older than agriculture itself, having been crafted long before the final peak of the Ice Age. During this time, anatomically modern humans still co-mingled with Neanderthals and were only just starting to develop their own technology. "It's the world's oldest boomerang and the world's only one of this shape and length to be discovered in Poland," Talamo told the BBC. Due to the boomerang's shape and construction, some questions remain as to whether it was crafted as a weapon or a toy. Some believe it could have been used as both. The shape would have allowed the boomerang to sail far, but it's a 'non-returning' device. Talamo believes that its deliberate construction, as well as fox-tooth pendants adorning the outside, indicate that the boomerang may have had a ceremonial purpose, a hypothesis backed up by its specific burial location. "These are totally clear indicators of behaviors we're unfamiliar with… that are so different from everything we saw in the deeper, Neanderthal-left cultural layers in Obłazowa," co-author Paweł Valde-Nowak told Live Discover Roman-Era Weapon, Oldest on Record first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 6, 2025
BBC News
27-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
World's oldest boomerang, doesn't come back when thrown!
The world's oldest boomerang is even older than we thought, and is being studied by scientists to learn more about how ancient humans curved boomerang is made from Mammoth tusk and was found in the Oblazowa Cave in Poland in in 1996 originally thought the bone could be around 30,000 years old, but after studying it again, the new team of scientists say it is actually even older - around 40,000 years old."It's the oldest boomerang in the world, and the only one in the world made of this shape and this long to be found in Poland," said Dr Sahra Talamo from the University of Bologna, in that it gives a "remarkable insight" into human behaviour. From studying it's shape, the scientists figured out that it would have flown when thrown, but not return to the person throwing than being used as a toy like today, the team figured out that it was likely used as a tool for hunting, or as part of an ancient ritual, or a piece of looking at marks on the handle, the team were also able to learn that the boomerang once belonged to someone who was boomerangs are generally associated with Aboriginal culture in oldest known boomerang from Australia dates to about 10,500 years ago, and was made from the oldest images of boomerangs in Australia are rock art paintings that are 20,000 years old, according to National Museum Australia.
The Independent
26-06-2025
- Science
- The Independent
World's oldest boomerang may have been found - but not in Australia
A mammoth tusk artefact discovered in Poland 's Obłazowa cave could be Europe 's earliest boomerang and potentially the world's oldest tool of its kind. The ivory artefact, estimated to be nearly 40,000 years old, was found alongside what appears to be a human little finger or toe bone fossil, according to a study published in the journal PLoS One. Unlike most ancient boomerangs, typically found in Australia, are made of wood, this discovery highlights the resourcefulness of early Homo sapiens ancestors using ivory. Experiments suggest the artefact could function as a non-returning boomerang, similar to Australian types, and markings provide cultural context for early Homo sapiens in Europe. Archaeologists speculate the human digit fossil found with the boomerang may indicate a shamanistic ritual, offering insights into early human technological innovation and symbolic behaviours.
BBC News
26-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
World's oldest boomerang doesn't actually come back
Boomerangs are generally associated with Aboriginal culture in Australia. However, rare finds in the historical record outside Australia suggest they were used across different continents. The oldest known boomerang from Australia dates to about 10,500 years ago, made from wood. But the oldest images of boomerangs in Australia are rock art paintings 20,000 years old, according to National Museum Australia. A wooden boomerang dating back 7,000 years has been found in Jutland, a peninsula between Denmark and Germany, while fragments of a 2,000-year-old oak boomerang – which does come back – has been found in The Netherlands. The research by a team of scientists from Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland and the UK is published in the journal PLOS One.
-with-Pawe-Valde-Nowak-(left)-and-Adam-Nadachowski-(right)-pose-wit.jpeg%3Ftrim%3D29%2C0%2C29%2C0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
26-06-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Archaeologists discover what could be world's oldest boomerang in Europe
A mammoth tusk artefact discovered in a Polish cave could be Europe's earliest example of a boomerang and even the oldest tool of its kind in the world, archaeologists said. The tusk was found along with what seemed like a human little finger or toe bone fossil at the Obłazowa cave in Poland, and it could be nearly 40,000 years old, according to a study published in the journal PLoS One. The previously oldest-known wooden boomerang came from the Wyrie Swamp in South Australia. It was dated to about 10,000 years ago, researchers, including from Jagiellonian University in Poland, said. One of Europe's earliest wooden throwing sticks was discovered at Schöningen in northern Germany and dated back about 300,000 years. In southeastern Australia, prehistoric Aboriginal people employed several kinds of such curved sticks for hunting birds, fish and small mammals. Several types of 'non-returning boomerangs' have been found in central Australia as well. These were used for various tasks like 'butchering animals, digging wells or cooking pits, scraping hot ashes from cooking carcasses, retouching stone weapons, and even producing musical sounds'. This shows the significance of boomerangs as versatile tools across diverse cultural and economic contexts. While most ancient boomerangs found so far, mostly in Australia, are typically made of wood, the new find made of ivory highlights the resourcefulness of our early Homo sapiens ancestors. Researchers found it to resemble 'Queensland type of Australian boomerangs' with experiments hinting it could fly as a 'non-returning boomerang'. Markings on the boomerang provide cultural context critical for understanding the emergence and variability of symbolic behaviors among early Homo sapiens groups in Europe. The discovery of the boomerang along with artefacts like a pendant also underlines 'an emerging regional artistic identity' 40,000 years ago. 'This parallels the distinct regional traditions observed in Europe such as the ivory figurines and flutes of the Swabian Jura,' researchers said. Archaeologists suspect the human digit fossil discovered along with the boomerang in the Obłazowa cave may be indicative of a shamanistic ritual. 'This interpretation draws parallels with rock art evidence of portrayed human hands with missing digits found in the Iberian Peninsula and France,' they said. The findings offer insights into early human technological innovation, highlighting the creative solutions societies developed to suit their needs across time. 'The findings not only deepen our understanding of Homo sapiens ' adaptive strategies but highlight the nuanced interplay of technology, symbolism, and environmental interaction during the earliest phases of human dispersals in Central Europe,' the study concluded.
