April 30, 2019

Year 1 Boomerangs

Pupils in Year 1 are enjoying their Australia topic this term. Today, we made boomerangs which are commonly thought of as an Australian icon.

Unlike boomerangs today which are designed to return to the thrower, Australian Aborigines used non-returning boomerangs for hunting a variety of prey, from kangaroos to parrots; at a range of about 100 metres.

The oldest surviving Australian Aboriginal boomerangs were found in a peat bog in the Wyrie Swamp of South Australia. When they were discovered in the 1970s, it was thought that they had been perfectly preserved at the bottom of the ancient swamp for at least 9,000 years, and possibly for as long as 10,200 years.