The History of Wheel

the wheel where would we be without this rotating wonder the wheel allows us to perform a myriad of tasks everything from scooting to the shops on a Saturday afternoon to hurtling around a race course in high-performance vehicles so indispensable our wheels to everyday life that many imagined the wheel was invented early in human history's and probably hewn out of stone however archaeology shows that for much of human history the wheel simply wasn't necessary and therefore wasn't invented so just how old is this cycler Tory shape well some of the earliest evidence for wheels dates to around 3,600 BC with the cucuteni to pillion culture here it is thought that over time sleds rolled on logs evolved into wheels on fixed axles they also made wheels in the form of models here is a vulnerable bull around about the same time in Mesopotamia there are many pictograph references to wheels in and around the great ziggurat city of Ur archaeologists have found images of carts seemingly with solid wooden wheels attached to their axles with pegs they probably would have been very useful for transportation of goods and also in combat in order to find the oldest reliably dated wheel you must travel to the capital of Slovenia Lea Briana here is a reconstruction of that wooden Marvel dating to around 3100 BC between 3,000 and 2,000 BC on the Russian steppes and into Eastern Europe there is much evidence of wheels in so-called Kurgan burial mounds more than 200 examples of wooden carts with wooden wheels and axles have been uncovered from these burial mounds they were obviously important as the dead seemingly couldn't live without them around the same time in what is now Turkey menaced an at the site of Alton death or the Golden Hill we find yet again evidence that wheels were being used on models and similarly dating to around 2600 BC in in Pakistan at the site of mohenjo-daro archeologists unearthed yet more evidence that wheels were being used on models we now approach a key point in the history of wheels around 2000 BC the invention of spokes lighter wheels and thus chariots yet again it seems Eastern Europe was the pioneer and chariots spread across the world it is thought a key element in their appeal is the ability to have fast moving soldiers in other words a combat edge between 2,000 and 1,500 BC we see chariots spread from the Carpathian Mountains to north of the Caspian Sea chariots chariots and thus wheels are found in Thracian burials in Bulgaria and to the east the Cintas de culture were burying chariots along with weapons of war the ancient Greek city-states saw the arrival of the chariots and thus the spoke wheel around 1500 BC though as elsewhere it seems the wheel may have had a precedent with models the chariot took on a role amongst the ancient Greeks in combat and ceremony but it seems across the city-states Chariot Racing was the most popular use of the wheel the heritage of the wheel used on chariots in China was established in Liu yang around 2002 dating to around 1200 BC archaeologists uncovered several chariots along with horses but don't worry it seems they weren't buried alive as elsewhere it seems such Giants were used for everything from leisure to warfare of course I would be remiss if I did not mention the chariot technology which had spread south to Egypt Pharaohs are often depicted on chariots either racing or fending off whole armies single-handedly such chariots were extremely well constructed strong agile and light when it comes to wheels Britain was a late developer the earliest evidence for which comes from flag fan this wooden wheel dates to the Bronze Age around 1300 BC however around a thousand years later around 300 BC in wet bang in North Yorkshire the wheel and indeed the chariot had taken center stage buried with the chieftain this was high-end Iron Age technology composite wheels with iron rims for durability again it seems that usage ranged from warfare to racing ceremony to the grave soon after this we see the rise of the Roman world and their most famous of wheel related contributions but is of course roads on the Appian Way in Italy you can even see where wheels of warn tracks into the stone it seems the Romans borrowed their chariot technology from the Etruscans who loved to race them and as with many things in the Roman world they could not help but supersize the event now this is all well and good I hear you say but what about the Americas what about the new world well so far it seems the full-blown wheel was simply not invented some cultures such as the Olmec were technologically advanced famous for their stone sculptures for example but the only use for wheels we have found seems to be on models or toys a lack of large domestic animals possibly meant a cart were simply never developed from solid pieces of wood to wheels we know and love this has been far from a comprehensive history of the wheel there are many other wheels I could have mentioned including wheel pendants found amongst urn filled graves or quite literally the world of wonders opened up by the invention of the potter's wheel but we have at least seen something of the origins of a technology which has been so important to human history so whether you've taken your car to work or maybe decided to ride in on your unicycle be you hurtling along the track of a death-defying roller coaster or coming in to land your prized plane or even just carting around your shopping in the supermarket take time to appreciate the wonderful wheels around you and the thousands of years which have gone into developing them but remember that wheels are not a Stone Age invention they're relatively new and for far longer than we have had them we live quite happily without them