This creates the didgeridoo’s distinctive sound. The vocalisations and circular breathing technique required to play it initiate sound wave interactions between the players’ lips and vocal tract, and within the instrument itself. A termite-hollowed didgeridoo tends to be wider in diameter at the bottom than the top, which creates unusual resonant frequencies. The didgeridoo is deceptively simple in design but is, in fact, a complicated instrument. The didgeridoo, traditionally played by men in ceremony, is a purely Aboriginal invention and is thought to be the world’s oldest wind instrument. They may be some of the oldest surviving human-made structures in the world. Some of Australia’s Aboriginal fish traps are thought to be up to 40,000 years old. Lake Condah shows evidence of a very large, settled community that harvested and smoked eels to trade. They made these fish farms by creating complex systems of canals, linked weirs and ponds out of river stones. Weirs and fish trapsĪboriginal people demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of engineering, physics and aquaculture in the design of elaborate stone fish traps in NSW, and the 100 sq.km eel farm at Lake Condah in Victoria. This resin was used to create tools such as spears, woomeras and axes. The resulting resin hardened as it cooled and was strong enough to bind rock to wood. They beat the resin out of the grass, then cleaned it and heated it over fire to create a sticky black substance. Witnesses report seeing spears thrown with enough force to skewer the trunk of a full-grown eucalyptus tree! Typically, the woomera was made by shaping a piece of hardwood into a long, thin handle and attaching a stone to the base to hold a spear-end in place.Īboriginal people made a powerful thermoplastic resin from porcupine grass and grass trees. The woomera is another uniquely Aboriginal invention that uses leverage to allow a spear to be thrown up to three times further. The angled shape with asymmetrical curves makes use of one of the most complicated principles of aerodynamics: asymmetrical lift. Other cultures invented throwing sticks with controllable motion and spin, but the boomerang was a purely Aboriginal invention. The boomerang‘s distinctive sound and remarkable return flight has made it famous throughout the world.
DNA confirms Aboriginal culture one of world’s oldest.