A new analysis of a carved mammoth tusk, first discovered four decades ago, suggests it may be the world’s oldest boomerang.
A recent study revealed that the unusual mammoth‑tusk boomerang found in a cave in Poland is 40,000 years old, making it the first known example of this complex tool in Europe—and possibly the oldest boomerang in the world.
“The ivory object has all the features of boomerangs used by Aboriginal people in Queensland today,” co‑author Paweł Valde‑Nowak, an archaeologist at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, told Live Science in an email. “Its curved shape, flat‑convex cross‑section, and dimensions match Queensland boomerangs that do not return to the thrower,” he said.
The study shows that curved throwing tools were invented in Europe much earlier than previously thought.
The crescent‑shaped artifact, about 28 inches (72 cm) long, was discovered in Obłazowa Cave in southern Poland 40 years ago, alongside human bones, fox‑tooth pendants, and stone blades, all covered in red ochre. Valde‑Nowak and colleagues published their original findings in Nature in 1987, suggesting the cave was intermittently used by Neanderthals and early humans during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic (300,000–12,000 years ago).
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The Upper Paleolithic (50,000–12,000 years ago) was a key period in human history, marked by new tools, cave art, and personal ornaments. In Obłazowa Cave, Valde‑Nowak noted a clear distinction between ochre‑covered finds and earlier artifacts at the site.
“In my opinion, this is absolutely clear evidence of behaviors unknown to us—practices of early Homo sapiens that sharply contrast with everything we found in deeper cultural layers at Obłazowa, left by Neanderthals,” Valde‑Nowak said.
To better understand the cave’s chronology, researchers conducted radiocarbon analysis in 1996 on organic remains, including the ivory boomerang. However, the boomerang’s age of 18,000 years appeared “unexpectedly young,” raising concerns about contamination from glue or preservatives.
According to the National Museum of Australia, evidence of classic Aboriginal boomerangs and throwing sticks dates back at least 20,000 years. These tools were multifunctional, used for hunting, fighting, or digging. Throwing sticks were also made worldwide, including a very early example from northern Germany dating to 300,000 years ago.
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In the new analysis of Obłazowa finds, researchers performed DNA and radiocarbon tests on a human finger bone from the boomerang’s layer, identifying it as a modern human who lived at least 31,000 years ago. They also analyzed a dozen animal bones, but not the boomerang itself, “to avoid further damage to this highly significant artifact,” they wrote.
Animal bones from the same layer as the boomerang dated to about 41,500 years ago. Using this series of radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic depth, the team created a statistical model, concluding the boomerang was definitely made more than 35,000 years ago, most likely between 42,365 and 39,355 years ago.
“Our analysis of the boomerang found at the Obłazowa site provided groundbreaking data on its age,” the researchers wrote, positioning the artifact “as potentially one of the oldest examples in Europe, and possibly in the world, shedding light on both the technical skills and cognitive achievements of Homo sapiens in crafting these complex tools.”
Originally published on livescience.com.
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