Quote Originally Posted by cavscout
My initial though was "it was for throwing across obstacles to make a means of crossing. Then I thought about this more.

If it was for crossing a creek, it would be more pratical and efficient to carry a log up place the bottom at the near edge, walk the pole verticle and then let it fall straight the across. This would be more accurate than tossing the pole end over end "hoping" it would fall straight and hit the other side rather than go crooked and float away or fall 100's of feet into a hole. I hope someone brought the extra caber

Even if to lean on a wall, again, why toss it when it would be a more certain method to carry it up and place the base where you want it rather than leave so much to chance in the heat of battle.

My comical opinion is that it was the early form of golf. There was a hole, and the intention was to toss the pole so that it landed in the hole and remained verticle. When the ball was invented the caber was replaced.
That was pretty much my thought process as well. I can think of uses for a log, but to throw it end over end is terribly impractical.