The spearthrower (known in some parts of Australia as the woomera) is a unique Aboriginal invention. It was designed to increase greatly the distance a spear could be thrown, acting as a first order lever.
Although Aboriginal peoples did not have wheels it should be noted that Aboriginal peoples were quite industrious and could move large bundles of goods, services, and ideas over very large areas geographically speaking. Their transportation system and communications channels were the water ways.
The traditional owners of the land which archaeological evidence confirms is the oldest continuous civilisation on earth, extending back over 65,000 years. They were among the first humans to migrate out of Africa, across the coastlines of India and Asia until reaching the shores of Australia.
The didgeridoo was developed by Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia at least 1,000 years ago, and is now in use around the world, though still most strongly associated with Indigenous Australian music.
boomerang, curved throwing stick used chiefly by the Aboriginals of Australia for hunting and warfare.
Boomerangs Were Lethal Weapons of War, Skeleton Suggests. Aboriginal peoples relied on boomerangs like these for hunting, digging, and other purposes.
Believed to be one of the world's oldest instruments, the didgeridoo dates back some 1,500 years (at the very least). Developed by Australia's Aboriginal people, the cylindrical instrument is made from a hollowed-out tree – often a eucalyptus.
The old myth was simple: if an aboriginal woman touched or played a didgeridoo she'd become pregnant. Rose advises that a woman would become infertile. That's a new one.
Trying the digeridoo is something non-Aboriginal people should consider with sensitivity, as both male and female travelers are curious about how the instrument works. However, it is wise to allow the local Aboriginal elders where you are visiting to guide your actions.
There is no one Aboriginal word that all Aborigines use for Australia; however, today they call Australia, ""Australia"" because that is what it is called today. There are more than 250 aboriginal tribes in Australia. Most of them didn't have a word for ""Australia""; they just named places around them.
The islands were settled by different seafaring Melanesian cultures such as the Torres Strait Islanders over 2500 years ago, and cultural interactions continued via this route with the Aboriginal people of northeast Australia.
Some people use 'Nunga' in general reference to Indigenous peoples who reside in and around the area of Adelaide. Many Indigenous South Australians prefer people not to presume the right to use their word 'Nunga'.
The culture of Australia's Aboriginal people is one of the oldest in the world – Aboriginal Australian Culture dates back more than 60,000 years! There are many archaeological sites throughout the country where the long history of Indigenous people can be found.
Australia is home to the oldest continuing living culture in the entire world. The richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in Australia is something we should all take pride in as a nation.
Australia's Aborigines are one of the most diverse and mysterious civilizations in the world. They are the Earth's most ancient culture and make up an important piece of Australian— and human— history.
It is significant that non-indigenous people have been given permission from many traditional owners to play the instrument although it is acknowledged that some Aboriginal communities feel allowing non-idigenous people to play the instrument is cultural theft.
Didgeridoos are central to aboriginal culture, going back to the people's creation myth, which has original man and woman conjuring animals and birds with the instrument. The name, bestowed by colonists, is meant to describe the instrument's sound.
"The breathing technique needed to play the didgeridoo helps strengthen lung capacity and is proven to have reduced the effects of sleep apnea and asthma.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages
Over 250 Australian Aboriginal languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact.
Indigenous Australians created many musical instruments. Some include the Didgeridoo, Clap Sticks, leaf blowing, Seed Rattles and Drums.
Archaeologists have found a piece of a stone axe dated as 35,500 years old on sacred Aboriginal land in Australia, the oldest object of its type ever found.
Spears, clubs, boomerangs and shields were used generally as weapons for hunting and in warfare. Watercraft technology artefacts in the form of dugout and bark canoes were used for transport and for fishing. Stone artefacts include cutting tools and grinding stones to hunt and make food.
During post-glacial times the bow and arrow were being used in every inhabited part of the world except Australia. A number of reasons for this have been put forward, one of which was that the Aboriginal People were ultra conservative and incapable of change.