Did Ancient Americans Have Chariots?

Ancient terms for chariot have been used to refer to a variety of conveyances, which could include litters carried by human servants, hand-drawn carts, or horse- or other animal-drawn vehicles, or battle chariots. Although they are mentioned in the Bible, surviving examples of chariots from the ancient Near East are very rare.

Chariots are only mentioned twice in the Nephite narrative, both during the brief Nephite reign of the judges, a period of about a century before the death of Jesus. This suggests that Lamanite and Nephite chariots, whatever they were, may have been rare or uncommon.  The first reference is to king Lamoni’s chariots in the land of Nephi (Alma 18:9-10). The second is to the chariots the Nephites seem to have used for carrying their possessions and provisions during a long siege (3 Nephi 3:22). Neither of these are said to have been used in battle, and may have been litters or possibly simple carts.

Although it is commonly held that the wheel had no significant influence on Pre-Columbian civilization, archaeologists have discovered nearly a hundred examples of wheeled figurines which date to between AD 600 and 1250. These figurines are similar to other wheeled figures from the ancient Near East and Central Asia where wheels were known and suggest that at least some Mesoamericans grasped the general concept of wheeled vehicles, even if other evidence for the practical use of wheeled conveyances has not been discovered.