The invention of the wheelbarrow—a one-wheeled cart used to transport goods and raw materials—is usually credited to the ancient Greeks. However, earlier evidence of wheeled carts has been found in Europe and China. The wheel alone, without any further innovation, would not have done much for mankind.
Rather, it was the combination of the wheel and axle that made early forms of transportation possible, including carts and chariots. The Bronocice pot, a piece of pottery discovered in Poland and dating to at least BCE, is believed to feature the earliest depiction of a wheeled vehicle.
The evidence suggests that small wagons or carts, likely drawn by cattle, were in use in Central Europe by this time in human history. The first carts featured wheels and axles that turned together. Wooden pegs were used to fix the sledge so that when it rested on the rollers it did not move. The axle turned in between the pegs, allowing the axle and wheels to create all the movement. Later, the pegs were replaced with holes carved into the cart frame, and the axle was placed through the holes.
This made it necessary for the larger wheels and thinner axle to be separate pieces. The wheels were attached to both sides of the axle. Finally, the fixed axle was invented, wherein the axle did not turn but was solidly connected to the cart frame. The wheels were fitted onto the axle in a way that allowed them to freely rotate. Fixed axles made for stable carts that could turn corners better. By this time the wheel can be considered a complete invention.
Following the invention of the wheel, the Sumerians invented the sledge, a device consisting of a flat base mounted on a pair of runners with curved ends. The sledge was useful for transporting cargo over smooth terrain; however, the Sumerians quickly realized that the device would be more efficient once it was mounted on rollers. While the basic function of the wheel is unchanged, modern wheels are much different from the simple wooden wheels of the past.
Innovations in materials science have made possible all kinds of tires for bicycles, cars, motorcycles, and trucks—including tires designed for rough terrain, ice, and snow. While primarily used for transportation, the wheel also has other applications.
Watermills, for example, use water wheels—large structures with a series of blades along the rim—to generate hydropower. In the past, watermills powered textile mills, sawmills, and gristmills. Today, similar structures called turbines are used to generate wind and hydroelectric power.
The spinning wheel is another example of how the wheel can be used. The same culture — the funnel beaker people — made pots decorated with motifs that look very much like four-wheeled wagons. The earliest physical remains of an actual wheel also come from backwards Europe. What it was attached to is not known; possibly a hand cart.
Further east, on the steppes of what is now Ukraine, wheels and complete carts have been found in 5,year-old graves. But there is another line of evidence that the wheel was established in Europe very early on. Languages, like bones and DNA, contain traces of the distant past. In the same way that biologists can reconstruct the common ancestor of two species by looking at the genes and physical traits that they share, so linguists reconstruct extinct languages.
Creating a family tree of modern European languages shows that most of them, and some non-European languages, share a common origin: a now extinct language dubbed Proto-Indo-European. It probably arose somewhere in western Asia and was brought to Europe by an incoming population. The original vocabulary reconstructed by linguists contains five words relating to the wheel.
Talking about the wheel so much implies it was an important part of the lives of its speakers. Proto-Indo-European has been dated to about 5, years ago, suggesting that the wheel was already an old technology when the Ljubljana wheel was made.
Chinese folk law dates the first wheelbarrow to the early first century , although the first, known evidence of a wheelbarrow was discovered in the tomb of Shen Fujun in Sichuan province. It dates to around AD.
The first wheelbarrows had a front-mounted wheel, similar to the modern-day design we are familiar with.
However, in the 3rd century AD, a centrally mounted single wheel wheelbarrow became more popular. This design could reportedly carry up to 6 people! There was also a rather intriguing sail-powered wheelbarrow design in common use throughout China, thought to date back as early as the 6th century AD. Outside of China, the first wheelbarrows found in Europe date to around AD.
Passengers rode in chairs suspended from rotating scaffoldings turned by hand. The first Ferris wheel was designed to rival the Eiffel Tower. It was So, that wheel your furry friend runs around is probably more modern than you think! Animal wheels have also been used as functional objects. Between the 16th and 19th centuries AD, the Turnspit dog was used in kitchens across Britain to ensure that meat cooked evenly on a spit.
However, the invention of the cheap spit-turning machines clock jacks meant that the turnspit dog breed was lost to the pages of history. Scientists discovered that even wild animals enjoy running on a wheel.
Username or Email Address. Remember Me. Image via Flickr Michael Vroegop. Mechanical Trends. Rose Barfield , 2 years ago 3 8 min read. TL;DR The earliest evidence for the wheel is Because the wheel was invented before records were kept, nobody can ever know who invented the wheel. The earliest wheeled vehicles were somewhere between — BC.
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