The wheel was probably invented 6,000 years ago in Europe

Archaeological evidence of wheels and wheeled vehicles appears abundantly during the Bronze Age (c. 5000 – 3000 BC) throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa, including battle scenes painted on walls, wheels, and wheels. Miniature vehicles, children’s toys, burial vehicles, even ancient texts. But because the wheel spread so quickly, scientists are not sure exactly where and when it was first invented, or whether it was invented independently in different places and times.

In research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science On October 23, historian Richard Bulliet, a professor at Columbia University, and his colleagues presented how the wheel may have evolved. Bulliet believes that the wheel was invented in the Carpathian Mountains, Europe, around 4000 – 3500 BC and from there spread in many directions.

Around 4000 BC, copper ore became harder to find, requiring workers to go deep into the mines and pull carts containing the ore back out. Late Bronze Age wagon models found in the Carpathian region were rectangular with trapezoidal sides – similar to today’s mining carts.

With knowledge of ancient wheel systems based on archaeological evidence, the research team used computational mechanics and design science to understand how the ancients transformed a simple set of rollers into a wheel and axle system. . Because heavy baskets or crates needed to be transported, ancients may have placed rollers along a path, then moved the back rollers to the front as needed.

The research team believes that three improvements are needed to develop the wheel. The first innovation – the grooved roller – allowed the barrel to sit on the roller and move back and forth, eliminating the need for people to go around to change the roller. This helps workers push larger wagons into the mine. The second improvement was a set of wheels fixed to the axle, giving the wagon a higher chassis to overcome gravel and other obstacles in the mine. The third innovation, the wheel moving independently of the axle, may have appeared about 500 years later, increasing mobility.

However, the team notes that the wheel continues to evolve. For example, the invention of the radial ball bearing in 1869 led to significant advances in the automobile and machinery industries of the 20th century.

While it helps explain how the wheel was invented in Europe and spread from there, the new study may not be the last on the subject. “I think it’s still possible that multiple civilizations independently invented the wheel,” said aerospace engineer Kai James at the Georgia Institute of Technology, co-author of the new study.