Boomerangs were the multi-tool of early Indigenous Australians

“And the way stone and wood and bone get marked is different, so we can get a clear picture of what a tool is being used for.”

The marks they identified were similar to ones found on bone tools used by Neanderthals in cave sites dating back 500,000 years, which had previously been associated with shaping stone tools.

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The findings are the first traceological evidence that boomerangs were used in this way, although previous work identified that they were sometimes used for other purposes beyond hunting.

“A lot of Indigenous communities travelled long distances, and they would need to carry tools with them, so a boomerang, which is relatively light compared to a stone tool, would be quite handy to have,” Ms Martellotta…