Boomerang

Unknown

late 19th–early 20th century · Wood · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Like the majority of Aboriginal boomerangs, the hooked boomerangs of central and northern Australia were nonreturning. Often referred to as "number 7" boomerangs because of their distinctive shape, these boomerangs appear to have been made primarily by the peoples of the Tanami desert region, but were exchanged widely throughout the central and northern regions of the continent along a complex and far-reaching system of inland trade routes. Boomerangs of this type were primarily employed in fighting, but were also used in bird hunting. Thrown into the rising flocks, they were highly effective in striking birds in flight, causing them to fall to the ground where they could be easily captured.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 19th–early 20th century

Medium

Wood

Culture

possibly Warlpiri or Warumungu people

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979