Evidence of 22,000-year-old vehicles found at White Sands National Park
46 comments
·April 10, 2025mikewarot
> (Even mammoths’ habit of dragging wood across the ground couldn’t have been the culprit, as no mammoth prints were found nearby, and the tracks would have likely been more erratic if created by mammoths.)
I love that there's been enough research into the past that things like the behavioral habits of animals long gone are well known.
tencentshill
2 sticks tied together that can carry supplies or a child. "Vehicles" is really stretching it.
fritzo
A real stretcher, you might say
tycho-newman
Gotta stick to your convictions!
9rx
I appreciate how you slid that in there. But for how long can we drag this out?
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Suppafly
>"Vehicles" is really stretching it.
Only if you don't agree with the definition of vehicle.
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chneu
White Sands is one of those places that keeps delivering. It's changed our timeline of when people arrived in the Americans and it's completely changed how we think of them.
Hopefully they have enough funding to keep doing what they're doing.
kasey_junk
It’s also one of the most alien feeling places I’ve been to. Cannot recommend a visit to the National Park enough and suspect it’s not more of a tourist destination just because it’s so remote.
alnwlsn
Being on top of the sand dunes is truly bizarre. It was so bright that I could see perfectly well without glasses (bright light = small pupil diameter = small aperture = high depth of field), and is pure monochrome white for miles in every direction.
Not that I'm likely to ever know, but that is probably what it felt like to be on the moon. It's only missing the black sky and 1/6 gravity.
chneu
it's a really amazing place. Definitely worth the trek out there if you have the time/desire. Really, the entire great basin/american SW is fascinating. There are a bunch of spots out there that will blow most people away.
stevenwoo
The source essay has more photos and illustrations
https://theconversation.com/fossil-footprints-reveal-what-ma...
travisgriggs
Using the word vehicle in the title is one of the more clickbaity moves.
Why not just “Evidence of 22,000 year old travois…”
mint2
Most people have no idea what a travois is.
The headline could have been evidence of a 22000 year old wheelbarrow like vehicle but I guess that was a mouthful. “Vehicle” is fine.
travisgriggs
While vehicle does have a broad definition, I think that for “most people”, it is synonymous with the kind of conveyance that people ride in. Police officers say “get out of the vehicle please”. I’m pretty sure that when they encounter a rowdy Mardi Gras goer riding in a wheelbarrow, they do not say “get out of the vehicle please sir”.
9rx
> I think that for “most people”, it is synonymous with the kind of conveyance that people ride in.
The article suggests that people riding in (or on, perhaps) was a common use for the vehicle.
chneu
vehicle /vē′ĭ-kəl/ noun
A device or structure for transporting persons or things; a conveyance.
"a space vehicle."happytoexplain
Lots of clickbait is literally true.
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jonathanhuml
The pioneers used to ride these babies for miles!
hackeraccount
Babies in these pioneer things used to ride for miles!
anon6362
And sometimes baby pioneers.
grg0
I thought this was going to be some sort of ancient aliens shenanigan.
"Space vehicle discovered in national park. It was just sitting there under the sand. There was even an alien inside; he was like, `yolo, been hidin'`."
dilippkumar
This is really cool.
But I want to talk about how much free headspace Graham Hancock has managed to acquire. I thought about him the moment I saw this title. I'm sure some of you came to the comments looking for his name too.
chneu
lol nobody outside of joe rogaine and tiktok take hancock seriously. dude is an absolute scam artist and liar.
hancock makes you stupid.
bn-l
No I disagree. He’s exactly what we need. Established dogma needs shaking up and to defend itself every now and then anew.
codezero
[dead]
robbiep
I couldn’t agree more, but as a 12 year old fingerprints of the gods got me started
tycho-newman
Back in MY day, we didn't even have wheels!
polishdude20
Is it possible those tracks could have also been made with a little wheel attached to the thing?
codezero
[dead]
puppycodes
Vehical is a stretch...
9rx
Which is why they went with vehicle instead. A travois is a vehicle, absolutely.
puppycodes
spelling was never my thing, but show me one person who's first mental image is a travois when they read vehicle. That being said... it's still pretty interesting :)
9rx
> show me one person who's first mental image is a travois when they read vehicle.
I expect most wouldn't have the familiarity required to have that specific mental image, but perhaps something equally primitive? It is not like they would think there was a 22,000-year-old Lamborghini.
thenthenthen
…er
If you ever find yourself driving West to East with some extra time, Route 70 from I10/125 junction at Las Crucas on up to Alamogordo and on up to Roswell is a phenomenally pretty drive. The long slope straight slope coming down from Dripping Springs into White Sands is uniquely strange. And the mountains around the Sierra Blanca are cool and refreshing after the dry desert valley. One of many wonderful American Scenic Byways. For anyone who loves to drive, I always go out of my way to take them. https://scenicbyways.info/