| In 1973,
some of the world's oldest wooden artefacts were excavated by the archaeologist,
Roger Luebbers, from a peat bog at Wyrie Swamp in South Australia. |
| Luebbers at Wyrie
Swamp. |
 |
Wyrie
Swamp, south east South Australia
Photo: R Luebbers 1974
South Australian Museum
|
|
In
the early 1970s, a local worker had alerted Luebbers that he occasionally
found Aboriginal artefacts in the peat that he dug in a quarry site south
of Millicent, south east of South Australia. The name, Wyrie Swamp, is thought
to derive from a local Aboriginal word, 'waiirri', meaning 'the sky'. |
|
| Complete Boomerang. |
|
Fragmented
Boomerang
Wyrie Swamp, south east South Australia
1974
South Australian Museum
|
|
Among
the finds were three complete boomerangs - the oldest known examples of
boomerangs in the whole country. They were made from wood of the drooping
sheoak ('Casuarina stricta'). Luebbers believes that they lay perfectly
preserved at the bottom of the ancient swamp for at least 9,000 years, and
possibly for as long as 10,200 years. |
| A fragment
of a fourth boomerang from Wyrie Swamp has been identified as being made
from the root of the drooping sheoak. To prevent these wooden objects from
falling apart when exposed to the air, archaeologists have treated them
with polyethyleneglycol and then had them freeze dried. |
|
| Chert stone implements
found in association with an Aboriginal campsite. |
|
Stone flakes
Wyrie Swamp, south east South Australia
1974
South Australian Museum
|
|
Other
objects found include tools made from chert (a type of flint) and chipping
debris associated with a campsite encampment, a simple short spear, at least
two types of digging stick, and a barbed javelin fragment carved from a
single piece of wood. |
|
| Caddmans office. |
|
Adelaide,
South Australia
Photo: Trevor Peters 1990s
South Australian Museum
|
|
In
the 1980s, the Museum investigated the flight properties of one of the Wyrie
Swamp boomerangs by making a copy with the aid of a computer. Although exhibiting
some flight properties, the boomerang chosen was found to be unsuitable
for flying long distances. It is therefore possible that at least one of
the boomerangs was a toy. |
|
| Recently made
boomerang from Millicent, South Australia. |
|
Millicent,
south east South Australia
Made by Lindsay Wilson 1991
South Australian Museum
|
|
Boomerangs
that have been made in the lower south east region of South Australia since
European settlement look remarkably like those that came from the depths
of Wyrie Swamp. Lindsay Wilson made this boomerang at his home in Millicent
in 1991. He was an Aboriginal man with connections to the Ngarrindjeri and
Moandik people who lived in the region when Europeans first arrived. In
his youth, such people as Clarence Long had taught Wilson how to make artefacts.
He preferred the timber of the drooping sheoak, the same wood used at least
9,000 years ago to make the Wyrie Swamp examples. The origins of the boomerang
will never be known, but it is clear that Aboriginal people were using them
by the end of the Pleistocene Epoch (2,000,000 to 10,000 years ago). |
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