Archaeologists discover what could be world's oldest boomerang in Europe [View all]

Artefact found along with human digit fossil in Poland’s Obłazowa cave

Vishwam Sankaran
Thursday 26 June 2025 06:08 BST

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.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/boomerang-oldest-australia-europe-poland-b2777180.html