How the Throwing Wood and
the Boomerang Developed

Europe
Afrika
Near East
India
Amerika
Oceania and
Australia
Conclusion
Literature
Notes

Attempt on a Historico-Cultural Compendium Based on the Thesis by J. E. J. Lenoch "Throwing Wood and Boomerang"; Vienna, 1949

In his thesis LENOCH tries to work out the historico-cultural basics and relations of an element of culture, the throwing wood, while at the same time considering temporal and local aspects and combining them. The first chapter of LENOCH´s thesis deals with the conceptual separation of the throwing wood and the boomerang. The following chapters are arranged geographically, according to countries and regions.

Genesis, Development and Definition of the Throwing Wood and the Boomerang.

The use of the throwing wood is verified by rock paintings dating from the Neolithic Age (since approx. 5000 v.Chr.). Finds from this time are not really suitable as unique proofs, because wooden pieces of equipment are only hard to preserve through thousands of years. The throwing wood was mainly a hunting weapon (long-range weapon, flying weapon) to hunt hares, birds and other small animals. Its use as a battle weapon played a minor role.

Its character as a battle weapon was lost as soon as the culture reached a higher stage of development. The throwing wood developed separately in different places of the planet. LENOCH assumes in his thesis that an object of examination (such as the throwing wood and boomerang) is determined by function, shape and material. The genesis of the throwing wood and the boomerang is therefore directly linked with the prevailing environmental conditions and the stage of development of the corresponding people.

The environmental conditions presuppose the existence of suitable materials (here: wood) of a certain strength, sufficient elasticity and a grain which runs uninterruptedly in natural bends. Also, there had to be animals which could be hunted and the technical knowledge which was a prerequisite for the production and the operation of these weapons.

LENOCH describes the throwing wood as follows: „The throwing wood is a crooked piece of wood,which is able to fly with or without having a grip. Generally it is thrown and then rotates in the air, but occasionally it also can be used as a club. Unlike the throwing club, the throwing wood does not concentrate on the effect of hitting. Only the variant which returns to the thrower is called a boomerang.

With his description of the object, LENOCH distinguishes the term of "throwing wood" from other terms like "throwing club" or "throwing stick". With the throwing club the effect of hitting is mostly concentrated at the distal end, while the throwing stick is a straight rod of hard wood which rotates while flying. The throwing stick is mostly sharpened at both ends and hits top first. A boomerang can be understood as the variant of the throwing wood which is used for playing and sports and with which a return throw can be made. The origin of the name remains unsolved, though LENOCH tries some etymological approaches.

In the second chapter dealing with Europe LENOCH already comes to a conclusive result, in our opinion, in which he determines the localities where the historical origins of the boomerang must be located. For this reason we went boyond LENOCH´s description here and have investigated his source texts to analyze the evidential value of his core statement. Afterwards we will describe his geographical outline.

The invention of the boomerang is commonly ascribed to the Australians, however, according to LENOCH, it is probable to have been invented in India and the ancient Orient; and for ancient Europe it is even proved. LENOCH refers to two historical texts, mainly to the one by ISODORUS HISPALENSIS, the bishop of Sevilla of that time. He wrote in the 7th century in his "ORIGINES":

The terms in brackets refer to differing passages from the original text of "ISODORI". A possible translation of the text-here by Beate Rodenberg- is:
It was called the clava (stick) - of the same composition like the one Hercules had- , because it was fixed with two iron clubs on either side; it has the length of half a cubit.
This is the cateia (throwing club), which was called caia (club, cudgel) by Horaz. There is a kind of a Gallic missile consisting of very flexible (inert) material, which does not fly very long, when it is thrown because of its heavy weight, but arrives there nevertheless. It only can be broken with a lot of power. But if it is thrown by a master (its builder), it returns to the one who threw it. Vergil reminds us with the following words: " One used to fling throwing clubs similar to the habit of the Teutons". Since then both the Spanish and the Germanics call those "teutonas".

Explanations (partially taken from critical comments):
clava,ae f.:is a stick provided with a thick upper or lower ending (a throwing club)
cateia,ae f.: (celtic word) is a kind of throwing club of the Gauls and the Germanics (quotation from Engl. translation/comment OLD: "a curved missile weapon - perhaps a boomerang"/ Langenscheidt Dictionary: "a kind of boomerang")
caia,ae f.: a "club", a "cudgel", rarely used word (verified in Isodorus)
cubitum, i n.: the cubit (44cm then)

When evaluting this passage it becomes obvious, how wide the interpretational scope is. Nevertheless it is remarkable that popular English and German special dictionaries admit that this passage may indeed contain the description of a boomerang. Generally, the existence of boomerangs is considered absolutely possible within ancient Europe.

At the same time one must admit that mythical heroes and gods often carry weapons which always come back by themselves.

The measurement of half a cubit-22 cm at that time because people were relatively short- is a reason against the theory of the cateia as a returning wood, if the heavy weight of the described object is taken into consideration.

A second historic passage consulted by LENOCH is no help with this problem, because the problem of what a cateia is is left unsolved. Caius Silius Italicus says (translation B.R.):
Only then did the Makers of Cinyps learn, how to pitch tents in the camp in the manner of the Phoenicians; Filthy beards cover the faces of the men; furs of a hairy goat cover their shoulders; the hand is armoured with a Cateia (s.a.) .

With the following outline we tried to give a carthographic overview of LENOCH´s text.

The oldest pieces of evidence (rock paintings) for the use of the throwing wood exist of the Young Palaeolithic Age (approx. 5000-1800 BC); since then constantly used until the pre-Christian ancient world:

In the Cretan-Minoic Region ( ca. 2000 BC): Sign of rank and dignity of military leaders. In Greece commonly used weapon with the term "lagobolon" = hare club, hare thrower.

The throwing wood is not proved to have been used by the Romans (from approx. 500 BC), only for the rural population´s hunt of hares. The Cateia seems to have been a crooked weapon with the characteristic ability of returning -ergo a boomerang- which was used by the Gauls and the Teutons (from approx. 100 AD).

For the North, the use of the boomerang is proved for the bird hunt, approximately at the times of the Goths (from approx. 100 AD).

Northern Scandinavia: Throwing wood known since the Young Stone Age (approx. 5000 BC)

The Urals: Finds from the time of 2000 BC

Poland: Surely the oldest find from the:
"Olazowa Cave" in the "Polish Carpathians"

Germany: boomerang find in the:
Elbschottern near Magdeburg (approx. 800 - 400 BC).

The origin of the throwing wood remains unsolved. That it was introduced by cultures outside Europe is unlikely, but an influence from the ancient Orient (Near East) is probable.

In North Africa, the constant use of the throwing wood can be proved from the Neolithic Age (from approx. 6000 BC) up to the recent past. It is likely to have been spreading from the North-East to the North-West up to the Atlantic Ocean (Sudan, Cameroon, Guinea, Niger, Morocco, Canary Isles).

Towards the South, no exact boundaries can be found. The African center of the idea of the throwing wood was located in the Sudan. The throwing wood was a characteristic element of the old culture of the steppe hunters. After the introduction of iron (approx. 600 BC) it developed into the throwing knife. In Morocco, it was used as a toy and a piece of jewellery with lots of ornaments.

Egypt:
Though it was used as a battle weapon (throwing and hitting weapon), the real application of the throwing wood was hunting. Especially the noble Egyptians used it for the bird hunt (social value of the throwing wood). Hardly proved to had been a sign of rank and dignity or as a weapon of the gods or for battle. Throwing woods of ivory with a ritual character (finds from the grave of Tut-anch-Amun, approx. 1340 BC). Many various types of throwing woods were developed until the end of the time of the Pharaos. The existence of boomerangs is not really proved, though the possibility of the flight in curves can hardly have gone unnoticed in Egypt because of the large number of possible variants of throwing woods.

In the Near East, advanced civilizations (from approx. 3000 BC) used throwing woods as royal badges, signs of dignity of gods and kings and as symbols. The shape of the throwing woods did not seem to be suitable for practical use. They can be found in the cuneiform script as picture symbols. Most proofs were found within the Assyrian and Babylonian regions.

Further development of the throwing wood into the scimitar. Its land of origin is Babylon. Later it was transferred to Egypt and Greece; most recent past: the oriental scimitar. According to WINCKLER the idea of the throwing wood came from the advanced civilizations of the Near East and spread in Europe, Africa, India and even in Australia; BORK maintains that the Australian boomerang was derived from the Babylonian weapon of the gods.

In the region of India, the throwing woods are not very popular. They are used in two regions of the Near East till today (1949).
1. The North Indian throwing wood; the primitive throwing woods were only used for hunting and made of wood.
2. The South Indian throwing wood, which was used as a battle weapon before India became a British colony.
By now, the boomerang has lost its use as a weapon and has become a cult object. Parallel to the functional change the material was changed from wood to iron and ivory. The question as to whether the South Indian throwing woods were returners, i. e. boomerangs, is seen as controversial. More recent examinations deny it, although the returning throw is not unknown to the Indian mythology. Indras Thunderbolt, for example, returned into the hands of the god after he had thrown it.

In the region of America, throwing woods were highly important as hunting weapons. The throwing wood was used for the first time approx. in 100 AC and was used for the rabbit and duck hunt. The building material was wood.

There is a striking concentration of the use of throwing woods in the South-Western part of Northern America. After a detour to the South-East the throwing wood made its way to the East to today´s Canada. There it mainly served as a battle weapon, which caused the throwing wood to alter its shape and to be shaped more and more like a hatchet.

On its way to the South it reached Mexico, where it was mainly used to hunt hares. Additionally, the throwing wood was treated as a weapon of the gods.

The throwing wood can be found sporadically on the southern continent as well. And in todays Brazil sorcerers are said to have known boomerangs.

On South Celebes, throwing woods were used to drive birds out of the rice fields. On Central Celebes, Java and Sumatra and also in Queensland, a cross-like throwing wood, made of bamboo splinters, serves as a toy for children. It has a boomerang-like flight line and became known as a "cross boomerang", though it generally "does not have anything in common with the boomerang", according to LENOCH.

Besides the throwing woods made of wood, which show a bow-like flight line, the inhabitants of the New Hebrides use also stone weapons shaped like throwing woods.

Australia is todays main country of the throwing wood, although the throwing wood cannot be found in all the regions of Australia. 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. The thinnest and lightest throwing wood can be found in Western Australia, where it is used mostly for fish hunting. In Southern Australia, the throwing wood is also used to hunt fish, but it is much heavier there.

The existence of the real boomerang is restricted to the East and the South and also to Southern Australia. It is not nearly as popular as the throwing wood and is always found in the company of the throwing wood. In its shape, the boomerang differs slightly from the throwing wood and even natives need to throw it to make a distinction.

t is hard to find a concluding evaluation of LENOCHS work from todays point of view. This all the more so as we always have to start from the author´s own definitions when reading his work.

More recent literature, like that by H. PETER, have a more special and exact look at the problems of the definition and distinction, though the results may not become any clearer or more comprehensible for the reader who only skims through the books.

Concerning the time when LENOCH´S books were written, he nevertheless made very extensive and costly studies on literature and his worldwide geographical attempts on classification are still unique today.
We paid special attention to LENOCH´S statement that the invention of the boomerang is proved for the Old Europe in his eyes. We think that this statement is not sufficiently proved. As the term "cateia" is used for various and partly totally different weapons (e. g. the spear catapult) by the classic authors, it cannot be proved with absolute certainty that the boomerangs existed in ancient Europe. After studying this literatue we consider it appropriate to say that boomerangs existed in ancient Europe.

Literature:

Notes:

To make the temporal categorization easier, we added dates to the text wherever possible. LENOCH´S thesis can be borrowed from the library of the University of Vienna via distance borrowing.
There will be a small fee for the dispatch and, if necessary, a fee for transport insurance. Unfortunately, the illustrated book belonging to the dissertaion was not to be found in 1992. LENOCH´S list of literature is remarkable in length (approx. 30 pages in size DIN A 4).

The text was compiled by:
Carolin Heitmann,
Melanie Osterwinter,
und Ulli Wegner

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