# Boomerangs! Their origin and characteristics...?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerangs-their-origin-and-characteristics/85839>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 6, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerangs-their-origin-and-characteristics/85839 "2001-10-06T22:41:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![freewill39](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d2c977/32.png) [@freewill39](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freewill39)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerangs-their-origin-and-characteristics/85839/1 "2001-10-06T22:41:44Z")

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Hello to all my fellow dopers.

I was at the OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE having a late lunch with a friend, and we began to comment on the ornamental boomerangs that the restraunt with the Australian motif had hanging on the walls.

Does anybody know what the origin of the boomerang is? We know it is supposed to be from Australia, but such a device with such an ingenious design that can do what it does required a fair knowledge of aerodynamics to design, I would assume. How long ago were boomerangs invented, by whom, where, for what purpose, and how were used from there?

Anyone with any information regarding any of these quiries gets a gold star, and a free Osama Bin Laden dart board. (-;

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerangs-their-origin-and-characteristics/85839/2 "2001-10-06T23:00:57Z")

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The english is a little rough, but there is some info at the [History of Boomerangs](http://www.rediboom.com/englisch/geschich/) site. The proprietor of that site does not seem to think boomerangs necessarily originated in Australia.

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**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boomerangs-their-origin-and-characteristics/85839/3 "2001-10-07T00:06:43Z")

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I’d be a little suspicious of the depth of research that went into that site. There’s at least one glaring fault.

> [@](#):
>
> The throwing wood does not exist e. g. in the extreme north and in Tasmania. In addition, the throwing wood is not used as a battle weapon in the other regions.

This despite the fact that there are numerous accounts of the boomerang being used as a battle weapon. Admittedly they were apparaently employed when the supply of spears was used up, but they were still used in combat, and apparently very effectively. There are several cases where mention is made of the technique of hurling a boomerang onto the ground so that it rebounded several feet in front of the opponent, rising up at unpredicatbe angles.