Woomera - Aboriginal People, Australia

A woomera is an Aboriginal Australian wooden spear-throwing device that functions as a lever, or extension to the arm, to significantly increase the speed and force of a thrown spear. Used for hunting and warfare, it acts as a, hand-held extension. The term is also synonymous with spear-thrower, throwing stick, or atlatl.
Aboriginal men use it to launch spears over long distances with high accuracy and force.

Originally from the Douglas Fraser collection.
Dr. Douglas Fraser was a professor of art history and archeology at Columbia University and an authority on the art and architecture of Africa and Oceania, unfortunately died in 1982.
Dr. Fraser was the author of ''Primitive Art'' in 1962, ''Village Planning in the Primitive World'' in 1968 and numerous articles and book reviews. Among the works he edited were ''The Many Faces of Primitive Art,'' in 1966; ''African Art and Leadership,'' with Herbert M. Cole, in 1972, and ''African Art as Philosophy,'' in 1974. Under his leadership, the program of primitive art at Columbia was expanded to include pre-Columbian art.

Height: 28 ⅝" x Width: 2 ¼" x Depth: 1 ⅝"