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?

Discovery Channel Ancient Aliens II: The Search for More Money ;)