Our ancestors must have used some form of transport to move their belongings as they traveled, but wooden vehicles have decayed over time. However, drag marks tell us how they moved heavy loads before wheeled vehicles existed.
Scientists discovered early evidence of transport technology used by settlers in the USA over 20,000 years ago. Researchers from Bournemouth University found drag marks likely made by makeshift vehicles from wooden poles alongside ancient human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico.
Previous studies revealed that some footprints at the Park are 23 thousand years old, pushing back the date of the earliest known human activity in the Americas.
Some of the tracks found by the team were made up of a single line, likely created by dragging two poles joined at one end. Other tracks had two parallel lines, suggesting they were made from two poles crossed in the middle. These vehicles, called “travois,” were used in North American history according to Indigenous Peoples’ accounts.
Study confirms the age of oldest human footprints found
The tracks, ranging from two to fifty meters long, were preserved in dried mud and buried by sediment. Since they occur alongside human footprints, it suggests people, not animals, pulled the travois. Many footprints around the tracks seem to be from children, leading the team to believe that children followed or walked beside the grown-ups who pulled the travois.
Indigenous People involved in the White Sands National Park studies agreed with this conclusion.
Professor Matthew Bennett of Bournemouth University, who led the study, said, “Many people will be familiar with pushing a shopping trolley around a supermarket, moving from location to location with children hanging on. This appears to be the ancient equivalent but without wheels.”
To further support their theories, the team built their simple travois from wooden poles and dragged them along the mud flats of Poole Harbour in Dorset, UK, and the coast of Maine, USA.
Professor Bennett explained that their footprints and the lines made in the mud by the poles looked the same as the fossilized examples found in New Mexico.
Dr. Sally Reynolds from Bournemouth University added that each discovery in White Sands helps them understand the lives of the first people to settle in the Americas. These early migrants’ movements are crucial for telling their story.
Journal Reference:
- Matthew R. Bennett, Thomas Urban, et al. The ichnology of White Sands (New Mexico): Linear traces and human footprints, evidence of transport technology? Quaternary Science Advances. DOI: 10.1016/j.qsa.2025.100274
