National Museum of Australia - Earliest evidence of the boomerang in Australia (2024)

FAQs

National Museum of Australia - Earliest evidence of the boomerang in Australia? ›

The oldest Australian boomerangs yet discovered were found in Wyrie Swamp, South Australia, in 1973 and have been dated to about 10,000 years ago. However, the oldest images of boomerangs in Australia are found among the Bradshaw/Gwion Gwion rock art paintings in the Kimberley, and are about 20,000 years old.

The oldest surviving Australian Aboriginal boomerangs come from a cache found in a peat bog in the Wyrie Swamp of South Australia and date to 10,000 BC. Although traditionally thought of as Australian, boomerangs have been found also in ancient Europe, Egypt, and North America.

The earliest dates for human occupation of Australia come from sites in the Northern Territory. The Madjedbebe (previously called Malakunanja II) rock shelter in Arnhem Land has a widely accepted date of about 50,000 years old.

Boomerangs are an internationally recognised symbol of Australia. For Aboriginal people the boomerang is as old as creation and a symbol of the enduring strength of Aboriginal culture. The boomerang has also been a popular symbol for tourism and travel, with notions of visitors returning 'like a boomerang'.

Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement of Europe and the Americas. Increasingly sophisticated dating methods are helping us gain a more accurate understanding of how people came to be in Australia.

Likely developed 10,000 years ago by Aboriginal Australians, boomerangs may contain the design invention that makes flight possible. The aircraft is one of the most significant developments of modern society, enabling people, goods and ideas to fly around the world far more efficiently than ever before.

The returning boomerang was invented by Australian Aborigines thousands of years ago. This ingenious development of the returning boomerang was a remarkable achievement unique to Australia. Boomerangs have been found and carbon dating has proven that they are over 10,000 years old.

The remains designated Mungo man (LM3) were discovered in 1974, and are dated to around 40,000 years old, the Pleistocene epoch, and are the oldest hom*o sapiens (human) remains found on the Australian continent.

A new genomic study has revealed that Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilization on Earth, with ancestries stretching back roughly 75,000 years.

Evidence of arrival in Australia

Examples of first entry to Australia include: current or previous passport. travel document with a visa, such as Document for Travel to Australia, PLO56 (M56) or Titre de Voyage. proof of entry, passenger list from National Archives of Australia.

How many types of boomerangs exist in Australia? ›

There are basically 3 types of boomerangs that are/were made and used by aboriginal people across Australia. These include hunting boomerangs, returning boomerangs and star shaped returning boomerangs.

In fact, the boomerang was known outside Australia at least until the nineteenth century. The Hopi people of Arizona, USA hunted rabbits with it. The Indian boomerang, known as valai tadis, was used in several areas of the Subcontinent for hunting hares, deer and partridges. It was also used as a weapon of war.

For Aboriginal people the boomerang is as old as the continent and symbolises their cultural endurance. Boomerangs continue to be made in Aboriginal communities and are an important link to Aboriginal history and country.

Aboriginals had over 200 different languages. According to the place, they often call their land uthuru in the Midwestern portion of Australia; barna in the Murchison region; biik in the Woiwurrung language of Melbourne; and kurrek in the Wemba Wemba language of Victoria.

Study suggests continent was colonized by more people than originally suspected. Some 40,000 to 50,000 years ago, a band of intrepid Southeast Asians became the first humans to reach Australia, and without a single glance at a GPS unit.

The excavation and dating of artefacts and sea and land fauna from sites on the island provide evidence of the Aboriginal occupation of Australia dating back to a period between 46,200 and 51,100 thousand years.

The vast majority of traditional Aboriginal boomerangs were non-returning. These were used for hunting and fighting, and were often made from heavy wood or bone. Returning boomerangs were less common, and were typically used for sport or entertainment.

King Tutankhamun, the famous Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, who died 2,000 years ago, owned a collection of boomerangs of both the straight flying (hunting) and returning variety.

A boomerang is a curved throwing stick. People use boomerangs as toys or as weapons. The Aboriginal peoples of Australia, have long used boomerangs for animal hunting and warfare. There are two types of boomerangs: returning boomerangs and nonreturning boomerangs.