> (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.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
> 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.
If it were an ancient aliens type thing, don't you think the language would want to draw your attention in that direction? Like "...22,000-year-old spacecraft found..."
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/
More specifically it is a travois, but a travois is a vehicle, and most people are going to have no clue what a travois is when casually reading a headline. They should know what a vehicle is. It is a common word.
The top article on HN right now is in the same situation: "Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?" What kind of cheese? Parmigiano Reggiano, it turns out. For the sake of the headline, did it really matter what kind of cheese, though? Not really. Cheese is fine.
And vehicle is a perfectly fine word to describe what it is without getting too deep into jargon as well. What would you have selected instead?
>I'd love to see quotes around "vehicle", or a different word.
I question why you, and so many others here, are so hung up the use of the word vehicle. Even if you weren't aware of the usage of drag type vehicles in the early Americas, you would at least envision something like a wagon, right? Or do you automatically assume vehicle is only self-propelled things like modern cars?
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'`."
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 74.0 ms ] threadI love that there's been enough research into the past that things like the behavioral habits of animals long gone are well known.
Why not just “Evidence of 22,000 year old travois…”
The headline could have been evidence of a 22000 year old wheelbarrow like vehicle but I guess that was a mouthful. “Vehicle” is fine.
The article suggests that people riding in (or on, perhaps) was a common use for the vehicle.
Hopefully they have enough funding to keep doing what they're doing.
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.
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.
hancock makes you stupid.
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.
Only if you don't agree with the definition of vehicle.
https://theconversation.com/fossil-footprints-reveal-what-ma...
The top article on HN right now is in the same situation: "Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?" What kind of cheese? Parmigiano Reggiano, it turns out. For the sake of the headline, did it really matter what kind of cheese, though? Not really. Cheese is fine.
And vehicle is a perfectly fine word to describe what it is without getting too deep into jargon as well. What would you have selected instead?
I question why you, and so many others here, are so hung up the use of the word vehicle. Even if you weren't aware of the usage of drag type vehicles in the early Americas, you would at least envision something like a wagon, right? Or do you automatically assume vehicle is only self-propelled things like modern cars?
"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'`."