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Archaeology & History

Drag marks of 20,000-year-old 'vehicles' discovered in New Mexico

By T.K. Randall
March 2, 2025 · Comment icon 7 comments
Early vehicle
An artist's impression of the device being pulled along. Image Credit: Gabriel Ugueto / Bournemouth University
Move over Fred Flintstone... evidence of an extremely primitive form of ancient vehicle has been found.
While the historical use of animals such as horses to haul around people and supplies has been well documented, archaeologists believe that they have found evidence of an even more primitive way to move heavy things around - wooden "vehicles" dragged by human beings.

Drag marks discovered at White Sands National Park in New Mexico are now thought to have been left by people pulling wooden travois-like vehicles some 20,000 years ago.

These sled-like devices were essentially just wooden frames made from two poles tied together with the item being carried resting at one end and the person pulling it standing at the other.
It is thought that young children may have also been pulled along by adults using the device.

"Many people will be familiar with pushing a shopping trolley around a supermarket, moving from location to location with children hanging on," said study lead author Matthew Bennett.

"This appears to be the ancient equivalent, but without wheels."

It is thought that the indigenous peoples of the Great Plains utilized similar wooden frame devices up to as recently as 500 years ago (albeit pulled by dogs or horses rather than humans).

Source: Live Science | Comments (7)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by Kittens Are Jerks 21 days ago
In the shifting gypsum sands of White Sands National Park in New Mexico, a series of fossilized human footprints have surfaced, casting a striking new light on the ingenuity of Ice Age inhabitants. These tracks, dated to approximately 22,000 years ago, provide the oldest known evidence of human transport technology—suggesting that long before the invention of the wheel, prehistoric peoples were building and using travois-like devices to move heavy loads across vast landscapes. https://www.anthropology.net/p/22000-year-old-footprints-reveal https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeolo... [More]
Comment icon #2 Posted by and-then 21 days ago
I didn't realize the travois had been around so long.
Comment icon #3 Posted by jmccr8 21 days ago
Hi And Then I wouldn't be  surprised if they were used much earlier than that and in a great many other places globally. Man has hunted big game for a long time and would make it easier to haul.
Comment icon #4 Posted by garen1 17 days ago
They are devices to transport / pull more stuff along. Not a vehicle. A suitcase serves same thing but it's not a vehicle if dragged / pulled by hand. Not a vehicle by any means. 
Comment icon #5 Posted by Buzz_Light_Year 17 days ago
A travois meets the dictionary definition of a vehicle. 
Comment icon #6 Posted by garen1 17 days ago
Yes of course. So is a cardboard box dragged around manually. 
Comment icon #7 Posted by Abramelin 15 days ago
What did you expect? The tracks of an ancient Lamborghini?


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