In the summer of 1985, something extraordinary happened. A team of Polish researchers began excavating the Obłazowa Cave, located in the Western Carpathian Mountains — the only known Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological site in the Podhale Basin in Poland. Shortly after the excavation began, objects started emerging from the ground. Among the discoveries was what appeared to be a 72-centimeter-long boomerang made from a mammoth tusk. Initial dating suggested it was 24,000 years old. However, a new analysis has revealed that this complex artifact could be much older — actually around 42,000 years old.
One of the researchers behind this discovery — published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE — is Italian scientist Sahra Talamo, from the University of Bologna, a radiocarbon expert. Talamo had doubts about the boomerang’s original timeline and suspected something was off. “I wanted to precisely establish the age of this unique object,” she told EL PAÍS via video call. The oldest known boomerang to date is 20,000 years old and comes from Australia, where they are most commonly found. “Finding one this old in Poland is highly unusual, so it was crucial to know when it was made,” she added.
It wasn’t an easy task. In fact, the boomerang itself was not directly analyzed; instead, its age was inferred based on objects and bones found nearby. Talamo explains the strategy: “When I first saw the object, I knew it shouldn’t be destroyed again to obtain another sample. It would have been like damaging a Van Gogh or the Mona Lisa.”
The scientist also knew the artifact had been contaminated with glue used for its restoration, which meant, as with the first dating, the results wouldn’t be reliable. “So we opted for a different strategy: dating the animal bones surrounding the boomerang in the same layer of sediment in which it was found, in addition to reanalyzing a human phalanx that was found there, using noninvasive methods and new treatments that have advanced significantly in recent years,” says Talamo.
Mitochondrial DNA extracted from that phalanx helped determine that the object had belonged to a Homo sapiens. This new evidence strengthens the idea that modern humans in Central Europe already had complex symbolic and technological thinking more than 40,000 years ago. “We don’t know exactly what they used the boomerang for, but some experts suggest ritual use, considering it was surrounded by large stones — uncommon at the site — and decorative objects, which is unusual,” says Talamo.
It may also have been a weapon. The middle section of the artifact shows clear signs of wear, indicating direct manual handling. The best interpretation researchers can offer is to view the object not only as a functional tool, but also as one imbued with meaning. One thing is certain, though: the boomerang does not return. “Technically, we should call it a ‘thrown weapon,’ but the original study [published in Nature in 1987] considered it a boomerang, based on the criteria of its shape,” the scientist says. Beyond this, “the most fascinating part of all,” for Talamo, is the fact that the object “speaks of the sophisticated behavior” of its makers because the ivory was carved with a skill practically unheard of for its time.
An evolving technology
“I would like to make one last comment,” Talamo says near the end of the interview. “I would like to emphasize that radiocarbon dating is not a static method; it is constantly evolving.”
The expert is not referring to the technique itself, but rather to the methods used to minimize damage to valuable objects. Radiocarbon dating works like an invisible clock that measures the age of any organic material—whether a piece of wood, a bone, or a seed. All living beings accumulate carbon-14 (C-14), a radioactive isotope that begins to decay as soon as they die. By measuring how much C-14 remains in the material, scientists can cross-reference data to calculate its age — sometimes with precision down to just a few decades.
However, to estimate a date, a physical sample of the original material must be extracted, which involves partially destroying the object under study. However, “today, instead of using grams of a sample, milligrams are enough. Let’s put it this way: if before, an entire finger was needed to date a specimen, now a fingernail is enough,” says Talamo.
Preserving materials like the boomerang in their original state is crucial because, in the future, more precise technologies that don’t involve altering the original objects could be developed. “This will allow us to better answer key questions about our evolution: When did we get here? When did we start creating objects like this? And why?” the scientist concludes.
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