Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, uncovering the oldest evidence yet of a vehicle used by humans. The find dates back to around 22,000 years ago and consists of drag marks, footprints, and a type of sledge known as a travois.
A travois is a wooden platform without wheels, typically made up of two poles held in each hand at the front and intersecting at the back in a V or X-shape. It would have been used to pull meat, game, or other supplies across the ground. This ancient technology predates the invention of the wheeled vehicle in Mesopotamia by approximately 17,000 years.
The discovery was made using a combination of natural erosion and careful excavation by researchers. The drag marks, which extend for dozens of meters, are accompanied by footprints that suggest the user dragged the travois over their own footprints as they went along. In many cases, these prints were left behind by children, indicating a possible group dynamic.
The finding has significant implications for our understanding of human migration to the Americas. Dominant theories suggest that nobody made the trek until around 15,000 years ago, but this discovery challenges those ideas. The fact that humans may have crossed into the Americas much earlier than commonly believed is a startling notion that raises questions about the traditional story of how the continent was populated.
According to study author Matthew Bennett, “There’s nothing this old,” and he believes that the footprints and drag marks tell a story of resource movement at the edge of the former wetland. While some might argue that these marks were left by dragging firewood, Bennett notes that it doesn’t fit all the cases they found.
The discovery provides new insights into ancient human technology and challenges our understanding of human migration to the Americas.
Source: https://futurism.com/evidence-vehicles-tens-thousands-years-old