In a groundbreaking discovery in New Mexico, archaeologists have unearthed the oldest known evidence of a human vehicle: drag marks left by a travois, tentatively dated to 22,000 years ago. This significant finding, detailed in the journal Quaternary Science Advances, highlights that these marks predate known wheeled vehicles by 17,000 years. Found in the ancient lakebed of White Sands National Park, the marks show a complex interaction between early humans and their environment, with associated footprints suggesting the collaborative movement of resources by adults and children.
"There's nothing this old," study author Matthew Bennett at the University of Bournemouth.
"The drag-marks extend for dozens of meters before disappearing beneath overlying sediment," explained Bennett in a writeup for "They clip barefoot human tracks along their length, suggesting the user dragged the travois over their own footprints as they went along."
"We believe the footprints and drag-marks tell a story of the movement of resources at the edge of this former wetland," Bennett wrote in The Conversation.
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