The question of whether the didgeridoo is a “later comer” to the Australian musical scene is raised directly within the historical texts.
The evidence suggests that while the instrument was widespread in Arnhem Land, its presence elsewhere was more sporadic. The phrase “later comer” itself comes from an analysis of Sir Baldwin Spencer’s 1912 recordings, which proposed that the “wooden trumpet accompaniment to aboriginal singing is a later comer to the Australian musical scene” compared to the universal use of percussion sticks (Museums Victoria article on Spencer’s recordings).
The theory proposed in that analysis is that the instrument, or the idea of it, likely “entered the continent here from the north, possibly as a wooden imitation of the shell trumpet.” Once adopted, it was “highly favoured in song and dance ceremonies” and consequently “spread east through the Gulf country (Roth), west to the Kimberleys and south as far as the MacDonnell Ranges”.
Therefore, the “latecomer” theory hinges on the idea that the didgeridoo may not be an ancient, pan-continental instrument, but rather a technology that spread relatively recently from a northern point of origin. The mystery of its origins is hinted at in old recordings and the journals of early observers, but it remains unclear whether it was truly a latecomer.