Boomerangs were used by native Australians to hunt animals such as kangaroos or emus.
Now, researchers in South Australia show one particular collection was also used for fighting, digging, fire management and even in ceremonies.
The scientists used radiocarbon dating to learn more about the rare collection of sticks, comprised of four complete boomerangs and one wooden fragment.
They were recovered from Cooper Creek, near the town of Innamincka in South Australia’s far north-east.
During 2017 and 2018, drought conditions led to the discovery of four boomerangs as well as one wooden fragment in the creek bed.
The study, led by Flinders University in South Australia and published in Australian Archaeology, showed the items had ‘a diverse past’.
While the oldest boomerangs used in Australia by native peoples are more than 10,000 years old, these are only 380 years at most.
According to Dr Daryl Wesley of Flinders University, the study author of this article said that “This range goes well beyond what the stereotype of the returning boomerang is known to most Australians.”
Boomerangs have two wings that spin powerfully around a center of gravity.
Because of aerodynamics, they are famous for their ability back to the thrower.
The boomerangs in this collection, however, are all non-returning boomerangs. They tend to be heavier and larger than returning boomerangs.
Queensland Museum explains: “A common misconception is the belief that all boomerangs return types.
“In fact, most Aboriginal hunting and war boomerangs are designed only to travel in the direction that is thrown.”
Jason Litherland, National Parks and Wildlife South Australia, and Katheryn Litherland discovered the four boomerangs and a wooden fragment in the creek’s creek bed during drought conditions in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Cooper Creek, which dries up due to the Australian climate, is one of the most famous rivers in Australia due to its connection with ill-fated explorers, Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills
They were recovered from Kinipapa (Cooper Creek), near Innamincka in South Australia’s far north-east
Radiocarbon dating results also revealed that boomerangs range in ages from approximately 1650 to about 1830 AD.
The year 1830 was just before European incursions into this region by explorers like Charles Sturt in 1820s and Robert O’Hara Burke in 1820s.
Burke, an Irishman and Wills, an Englishman, successfully traversed Australia from south-to-north, starting in Melbourne.
They crossed Australia with two other Europeans, becoming the first Europeans to do so. They reached the Gulf of Carpentaria on February 1861.
Aboriginal Australians have used nonreturning boomerangs in their daily lives for thousands of years.
Robert O’Hara Burke (left), William John Wills(right), John King, Charles Gray and John King were the first Europeans who crossed Australia south to north in February 1861 when they reached the Gulf of Carpentaria.
However, Burke and Wills both died on their return journey at the end June 1861.
These boomerangs could have been thrown in Cooper Creek mere decades prior to the arrival of Burke, who established a depot camp at the creek during the expedition.
The connection between the explorers and the creek that runs through South Australia and Queensland makes it one of Australia’s most popular rivers.