Non-returning boomerangs have been used for at least 20,000-30,000 years, with the oldest known example carved from a mammoth’s tusk. These non-returning boomerangs were used for hunting and were carved for straight flight and to stay in the air as long as possible when thrown correctly. The hunter was then able to throw the primitive boomerang great distances and hit an animal to be eaten for dinner. These animals were often small-game, but even the likes of kangaroo or emus can be sufficiently injured by a decently weighted boomerang such that the animal can no longer outrun the hunters.
Possibly while shaping a non-returning boomerang, someone accidentally carved a boomerang into a shape that, when thrown correctly, came careening back toward the owner. It wasn’t exactly useful for hunting or warfare; it was difficult to aim; and if it actually hit its target, it wouldn’t come back anyway.
There is some conjecture that returning boomerangs could have been used for flushing certain game, but there is little in the way of actual evidence to back these claims. As such, most scholars believe that, because returning boomerangs don’t serve much of a functional purpose in hunting, they were simply used for sport, possibly first by the Australian aborigines, though Ancient Egyptians and many other cultures also made them. Tutankhamen actually had a collection of returning (and non-returning) boomerangs.
via Gizmodo
