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AndrewD
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Australian Aboriginal artifacts 2 – Woomera

Here is the second installment in my regularly irregular series of Australian Aboriginal art and artifacts. [Fire sticks can be found by clicking here.]

This artifact is a spear thrower or woomera. The word “woomera” originated amongst Aboriginal groups in New South Wales, but is now the general term for these spear throwers.

The woomera is designed to increase the leverage and accuracy of throwing a spear. It has been said that, until the invention of the rifle, a spear thrown by a woomera was the fastest weapon used by man.

The force generated from the throw is 4 times that produced by a modern compound bow. The woomera increases the distance that a spear can travel by up to 3 times.

There is historical evidence of woomeras being used up to 5000 years ago. Similar tools were developed by other traditional groups around the world.

Woomera is also the name of a town in South Australia established in 1947 to service the Anglo-Australian Long Range Weapons Establishment.

To the Aboriginal people, many of whom lived in harsh desert environments and had to travel to find food and water, the objects they carried were, by necessity, multifunctional. The bowl-shaped body of the woomera could be used to carry food items or used as a shield.

Like many Aboriginal artifacts, the decorations often indicate the owner’s tribal group.

Peg to hook spear held by kangaroo gut.