If there’s one thing about boomerangs, it’s that they come back to you after you throw it. This particular boomerang does not do that, but in its defense, it is very old.
The BBC reports that new research into what was already thought to be the oldest boomerang in the world reveals that the tool is even older than originally thought. Upon its initial discovery in a Polish cave in 1985, it was estimated to be about 30,000 years old, but advancements in radiocarbon dating now puts it at between 39,000 and 42,000 years old.
The curved shape of the boomerang, which was made from the tusk of a mammoth, led researchers to conclude that “it would have flown when thrown, but would not have come back to the thrower,” the BBC says.
Despite not being able to do the one thing boomerangs are known for, it does provide “remarkable insight,” says Dr. Sahra Talamo of the University of Bologna, Italy, who describes the tool as “such a perfect object.”