Africa

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.