A remarkable discovery has emerged from Poland, where a boomerang carved from mammoth tusk is being reconsidered for its age due to new radiocarbon dating techniques. This artifact, previously estimated to be around 18,000 years old, may actually date back approximately 40,000 years, suggesting it could be one of the oldest known boomerangs.
Discovered in the 1990s at Oblazowa Cave, this ancient boomerang has piqued the interest of researchers, including Sahra Talamo from the University of Bologna, who argues that the findings reveal significant insights into life during the last Ice Age. The implications of these findings point toward a deeper understanding of human adaptation to the severe tundra conditions that are now part of present-day Poland.
A boomerang carved from mammoth tusk
The boomerang measures approximately 72 centimeters in length, featuring a gentle curve and distinctive shaping, with one end more rounded than the other. Notably, it retains marks and wear from the mammoth’s life, along with carefully crafted parallel grooves indicating deliberate smoothing by a prehistoric artisan. Diagonal notches on the rounded end indicate modifications intended to enhance grip, suggesting it was a highly-utilized tool by a Paleolithic hunter.
Experimental recreations of the boomerang have shown that, while it glides smoothly through the air, it does not return to the thrower, resembling certain boomerangs used by Aboriginal Australians. Interestingly, its design bears similarities to styles used by indigenous people in Queensland, Australia. However, this aesthetic parallel emphasizes how different cultures may have arrived at similar solutions for hunting and survival in their respective environments.
Crucially, Talamo and her research team assert that the true age of the boomerang is around 40,000 years, a significant deviation from the previously established 18,000-year estimate based on a 1996 radiocarbon dating effort. The original dating was derived from a sample of the boomerang itself but did not align with the age of other artifacts found within the same geological layer of the cave. This discrepancy led the researchers to speculate that contamination from modern carbon may have skewed the initial results. To validate their hypothesis, the team conducted radiocarbon dating on 13 animal bones and one human thumb recovered from the same cave sediment, reinforcing their findings about the boomerang’s age.
