Boomerang carved from mammoth tusk shows ‘Homo sapiens’ had symbolic thinking 42,000 years ago

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.

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