Australian Aboriginal artefacts
Australian Aboriginal artefacts include a variety of cultural artefacts used by Aboriginal Australians. Most Aboriginal artefacts were multi-purpose and could be used for a variety of different occupations. Spears, clubs, boomerangs and shields were used generally as weapons for hunting and in warfare. Watercraft technology artefacts in the form of dugout and bark canoes were used for transport and for fishing. Stone artefacts include cutting tools and grinding stones to hunt and make food. Coolamons and carriers such as dillybags, allowed Aboriginal peoples to carry water, food and cradle babies. Message sticks were used for communication, and ornamental artefacts for decorative and ceremonial purposes. Aboriginal children’s toys were used to both entertain and educate.
Aboriginal man with shield and boomerang
Child asleep in wooden dish, central Australia, c.1940s
Aboriginal men with spears and shields
Aboriginal man with boomerang, near Yuendumu
A boomerang is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning boomerang is designed as a weapon to be thrown straight and is traditionally used by some Aboriginal Australians for hunting.
Aerodynamic returning boomerang
A modern, plywood, returning boomerang
Various types of boomerangs from Australia, India, and Africa. A proposed evolution process from malga to boomerang is drawn on the upper side, while hatchet to boomerang is on the right.
Australian Aboriginal boomerangs