New kind of ancient graffiti found in northern Australia

[pesco]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/11/05/new-kind-of-ancient-graffiti-found-in-northern-australia.html

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[jra]

Probably just a Banksy.

[PsiPhiGrrrl]

Marra mothers probably told their kids many times to stop marking up those cave walls, but would they listen? Nope.

[brokenwords]

Earliest known evidence of a proto-banksy, soon to be the subject of many art history and archeology PhD dissertations.

[Lizardo]

The boomerangs depicted are non-returning huntings sticks (also known as a kylie) made from the wood of the mulga tree. The bend is formed where the trunk meets the ground and takes a sharp turn. It is incredibly challenging to make a throw stick that flies straight and level. Anything less than perfect design and execution yields a stick that makes a pronounced curve during the flight. The current thinking is returning boomerangs developed from the production of toy kylies for children that were much smaller and lighter in weight that had very different aerodynamic properties. The design was tweaked until a full-circle flight was achieved. Benjamin Scott makes amazing (and indestructible) kylies out of polycarbonate. The flights he achieves would be the same as the mulga versions, and are startling in the range and accuracy.

Oh yeah, I need to say it:

1. Boomerangs (the returning type) do indeed come back if thrown properly.
2. Returning boomerangs were not used for hunting, but for play and sport. There is still a misconception that a hunter missed with a throw they could catch it try again.