SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA—According to a statement released by Griffith University, a new experimental study suggests that Australia’s Indigenous communities may have used boomerangs made of hardwoods to shape the edges of stone tools. Research team member Paul Craft, a Birrunburra / Bundjalung / Yugambeh / Yuggera / Turrbal man, fashioned replica boomerangs for the study that were used to retouch the edges of replica stone tools. This generated markings that are comparable to those observed on bone retouching tools dated to more than 200,000 years ago. Researcher Eva Francesca Martellotta said that while boomerangs are primarily used as hunting and fighting weapons, they also serve other functions connected to the daily activities of Aboriginal communities. This is something that Aboriginal people have known for a very long time, she added. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. For more on the many functions of boomerangs, go to "Around the World: Australia."
