The first “vehicle” in human history? It was 22.000 years old and resembled a rudimentary wheelbarrow. It may seem like yet another archaeological hyperbole, but the tracks recently discovered in White Sands National Park in New Mexico tell this very story.
Scholars from Bournemouth University have identified the imprints of wooden poles dragged along human tracks: the unmistakable signature of a primitive prehistoric transport system. A surprisingly widespread technology, it seems, as underlined Matthew Bennett, one of the authors of the study. The tracks show different variations of the same instrument: some with two parallel lines, others with a single line. The wheel, it is worth remembering, was invented only 18.000 years later. Evidently, human ingenuity did not wait for the invention of the wheel to get moving.
When traveling meant dragging
I often wonder what the first reaction of those primitive inventors was when, tired of carrying weights on their shoulders, they had the illumination: "What if we dragged instead of lifting?" A banal intuition for us, but revolutionary for the time. The traces found in the New Mexico clearly show that someone, 22.000 years ago, had this brilliant idea.
According to the study published on Quaternary Science Advances (I link it here), this ancient “wheelbarrow without a wheel”, as he elegantly defined it Bennett, has left unmistakable marks in the Pleistocene sediment. Researchers have identified grooves created by one or more wooden poles that follow human footprints, testifying to a prehistoric transport surprisingly sophisticated for its time.
This is not an isolated case or a failed experiment, as mentioned; these primitive wheelbarrows were evidently a widespread and regularly used tool. “They are found in many different areas of White Sands National Park,” he explained. Bennett, “so it was a widely used tool. It’s not just an inventive family using a primitive wheelbarrow.”
Prehistoric Wheelbarrow: Design Variations
You may be surprised to learn that even back then there were several “product lines” of these tools. Yes, sir: prehistoric transportation was not limited to a single standard model. Archaeologists have identified at least two main variants, distinguishable by the traces left on the ground.
Some footprints show a single drag line, probably created from two pieces of wood forming a triangle, with the ends held by the driver and the joined part being the only point touching the ground. Other traces instead reveal two parallel lines, suggesting an X-shaped structure with two handles and two points of contact with the ground.
Scholars believe that this second variant, the X, offered greater stability than the triangular design: a focus on ergonomics and functionality that demonstrates just how advanced these ancient engineers were.
The longest tracks extend for a full 50 metres, while the shortest measure just under 2 metres, suggesting different uses, perhaps for different types of loads.
Who was pulling the first wheelbarrow?
It was certainly not animals that pulled these primitive means of transport in New Mexico of the time. The study shows that humans were the only ones who did this work. Usually, a single individual would drag the wheelbarrow across the ground: quite a task, I imagine.
What I find particularly touching, however, is a detail that emerged from the analysis of the tracks: sometimes, next to or in the middle of the drag marks, child-sized footprints were found. I like to imagine children accompanying their parents on their journeys, perhaps intrigued by the mechanism, perhaps offering moral encouragement, or perhaps simply playing along the way.
This small detail humanizes the discovery enormously. We are not just talking about primitive technology, but about families, about daily life, about generations that transmitted practical knowledge. A society that, despite the temporal distance, appears surprisingly similar to ours in its basic needs.
The “fossil recorder” that rewrites history
New Mexico is becoming a veritable open book on the human presence in the Americas. It’s not the first time that White Sands National Park has provided historical surprises. A study published in 2024 given some footprints found in the area more than 23.000 years ago, confirming previous research and completely rewriting the chronology of the arrival of humans on the American continent.
Examining and dating fossil tracks offers modern scientists a unique window into ancient life. In this case, we gain a deeper understanding of the transportation systems of the time. As the study authors write: “This unique set of footprints may represent some of the earliest evidence for the use of transportation technology.”
And it's not just a matter of satisfying our historical curiosity. These discoveries allow us to trace the evolution of human ingenuity, our innate ability to solve practical problems. Before the wheel existed, before we domesticated draft animals, we were already looking for ways to make the transportation of goods more efficient: a fundamental necessity for any human society.
The “wheelbarrow” technology before the wheel
The wheel, that quintessential symbol of human technological progress, was invented independently in different areas of the world, with the earliest examples dating back to around 4500 BC It is impressive to think that the traces found in the New Mexico precede this “revolutionary” invention by about 18.000 years.
This unique discovery may represent one of the first evidences of the use of transportation technology.
It makes me think about how much we are used to thinking of technological evolution as a linear path, with obligatory stages and inevitable inventions. The reality, as always, is more complex and fascinating. For millennia, humans have solved transportation problems without the aid of wheels – using sleds, dragging weights across prepared surfaces, and navigating waterways. We shouldn't be surprised. After all, even today, under certain conditions, seemingly “outdated” technologies can prove more efficient than more advanced ones. Let’s try to imagine carrying a heavy load on sand: a sled might work better than a wheelbarrow. Every technology has its ideal context.
An “obvious” but brilliant invention
“Basically, it's a wheelbarrow without the wheel,” he said Matthew Bennett as reported by New Scientist. A simple definition that perfectly captures the essence of this invention.
Today it seems obvious to us. Dragging an object requires less energy than lifting and carrying it. But someone, 22.000 years ago, had to make this discovery first. Someone had to build the first prototype, test it, refine it, and then share the idea with others. I am fascinated by the process of diffusion of this technology. How did it spread? Who were the “innovators”? Were there “resistances to change” even back then? Questions to which we will probably never have answers, but which remind us that technology has always been a profoundly social phenomenon, as well as a technical one.
And today, as we push the boundaries of artificial intelligence and robotics, perhaps we should remember those anonymous prehistoric inventors more often. Their curiosity, their creativity in solving practical problems, their spirit of innovation—these are the same traits that continue to propel us forward as a species.
Ultimately, the distance between a prehistoric wheelbarrow and a Mars rover is less than it might seem; both arise from the same fundamental need: finding more efficient ways to move and transport things in space. We continue to reinvent the wheel, in a sense: or, in this case, to invent it for the first time.
