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The
archaeologist Dietrich Evers reported about an item found in the Elbe
gravel factory which dated back to the time of 800-400 BC . It was a boomerang-like
find of ash wood which really shows the qualities of returning of a left-hander
boomerang, according to a tested reconstruction. Therefore this object
from the region near Magdeburg might be the first returning boomerang
found in Germany!
Further Evers reports how exactly the finding took place:
The boomerang was accidentally brought from the ground of the Elbe to
the surface with the help of a gravel excavator. As there have often been
spectacular finds during such jobs, the workers of the gravel factory
are instructed to regularly control the extracted material and to preserve
discovered artefacts. Wooden objects found till now show an excellent
state of preservation, because they were lying under the ground water
level, which means they were not exposed to air, even if the time span
covered thousands of years.
The find was historically dated by the means of the C-14 method. The archaeologists,
who took a look at it first, describe it as a piece "which can be
compared most likely to a boomerang according to its shape". D.
Evers, however, is sure that this object actually is a boomerang:
Material:
Ash wood with a thickness of 0.7 - 1.0 cm; length of the preserved arm:
22.7 cm; width of the wings at the endings: 4.25 cm und 4.4 cm; width
of elbows: 7.35 cm; angle between arms: approx. 60°C;.
State of preservation:
D. Evers assumes that the boomerang was intentionally buried to
prevent the wood from tearing or to increase its net weight. Flight test:
E. Mawick and F. Frost report the result of their flight test:
"With the left hand throw there was a circle of 18 to 20 m with a
complete return with wind conditions of nearly 2 bft and strong throwing
power; behaviour of flight was hard to control, because of the disadvantageous
relation between the mass and the size of the weight-bearing surface.".
I myself made a reconstruction of the object from 5 mm plywood, but only
with heeding the outline. I altered the profile for the returning conditions
several times until it could be cought.
What was it used for?
The authors from Magdeburg/Halle tend to interpret the boomerang as an
object for sports and playing. D. Evers pleads for a "cult wood of
return" and refers to his previous publications.
(Quelle:
Eckhard Mawick, Bumerng Welt 1/95)
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