This Aboriginal hunting boomerang, or throwstick, was made by Australian Aborigines in the first half of the 20th Century. The wood is probably Desert Mulga, a tough Gum hardwood that grows in the Central Desert region. Both surfaces are rough hewn using an adze and then the surfaces are finished with a metal file. The surfaces are burnished with red ocher. The airfoiling is just like what you would expect to find on pre-contact hunting boomerangs, but there is obviously evidence of contact with the metal file marks, so this boomerang would be classified as early contact and this would date the boomerang to the early 1900s. This hunting boomerang has an unusual shape with more curvature at the bend than what is found on most hunting sticks from this region. There are several age cracks that run with the grain as a result of the wood loosing moisture with age. One of these cracks does terminate at an edge, so you do not want to throw this one. There are also a few tiny edge dings from use as expected. This hunting boomerang would display nicely in any collection and it is a handsome example of primitive Aboriginal technology that is unfortunately no longer part of the Aboriginal culture.