Who first invented the wheel?

The wheel was gradually discovered by human beings in the labor practice of carrying things. In primitive societies, our ancestors gathered and hunted for a living, and in the beginning, the food they got was limited, and they could easily bring it back with them. As weapons and production tools improved, more things were hunted and it became difficult to transport them to their destination. So, some people came up with the idea of picking up a few broken thick branches from the ground, connecting them together with vines, then placing the prey on top of it and dragging it with both hands by grasping the two long branches, which was much lighter and faster than carrying it on the back and shoulder. There is also the idea of using a wooden stick, one end on the shoulder, the other end on the ground, the weight hanging in the middle of the stick pulling away, which is also less laborious than carrying by hand. Others put two sticks side by side, tie a piece of cloth in the middle, hold both ends of the stick with both hands, and drag the other end on the ground. These were the first inventions of the "light sledge", which was characterized by sliding on the ground with the help of a sliding bar. At that time, it was still very difficult to drag this kind of sled on the mountains of the wilderness, where there were almost no roads. One day, when the wind was blowing hard, it was noticed that smooth stones or logs rolled faster than other things when the wind was blowing. This natural phenomenon gave people a great inspiration, people with stone axes to cut the logs short, and cut off the two ends of the logs in the center of a round hole, and then in the hole through a thin stick to connect them. In this way, a kind of roller sled was made successfully, with it to drag things than in the past the kind of light sled and much lighter, this kind of roller appeared in about 2000 BC. When using this kind of roller to transport too heavy goods, it will be cracked, therefore, people later thought of this kind of wheel to put on the copper or iron hoops. Legend has it that in about 3000 BC, Central Asia has been used with the wheel of the car, but at that time the civilization of the developed Egypt did not know, is still using the rolling wood for the wheel to haul goods, 1600 BC, the north of the Hyksos with horse-drawn chariots to attack Egypt, so that the Egyptians were surprised. Since then, the Egyptians also began to use the wheeled vehicle. They were the first to use spokes and rims to reinforce the wheels. But at that time are still wooden, later with the emergence of steel, wooden wheels developed into steel wheels, plus rubber tires, filled with air, the wheels were perfected.

Often the wheel is considered the oldest and most important invention of mankind, so much so that we often compare it to the use of fire. In fact, humans have been taming fire for more than 1.5 million years, while the wheel has only been in use for a mere 6,000 years.

Wheeled vehicles would not have been possible until sharp, sturdy tools were available. It was difficult to work wood into a suitable cylindrical shape with stone tools, let alone a wheel complex enough to have spokes. Therefore, the appearance of the wheel can only be after the Bronze Age.

The famous American anthropologist Robert Lowe once asserted that all the people who use the wheelbarrow, not directly or indirectly from the Babylonian learning. The American Indians knew to tow boats on rolled logs, and also used spinning wheels, and the play of rolling iron rings, but the meaning of wheeled vehicles has never occurred to me.

Lowe's view of the origin of the wheel is also the view of most archaeologists. But new archaeological discoveries often overturn old theories. The ruts under the megalithic tombs of Flintbek in Germany date from 4800-4700 BC. A jar with a cart pattern found in Bronocice, Poland, has been dated to before 4725 B.C., but seven carbon-14 dates for the stratum favor a conclusion of 4610-4440 B.C. The discovery of a wheeled transport vehicle in the Near East is a good example of the use of a wheeled vehicle. The earliest evidence of wheeled transportation in the Near East was found by American archaeologist Baldia at the Late Uruk site in Syria. A model with wheels and wall paintings of "wagons" were found there. These things were left by the ancestors 6400-6500 years ago.

So, it is likely that the wheeled vehicle appeared in Europe and then traveled to the Near East, or was reinvented by the Orientals.

Let's put aside the arguments of archaeologists, and see what they *** knowledge:

The wheel is the predecessor of the pottery wheel, the ancients can use it to batch production of pottery [01 in the pottery wheel production of pottery], this is the earliest of the human artifacts and containers. The simplest potter's wheel is only a pair of disk-shaped wheel, the wheel is installed between a shaft, shaft upright vertical; potter's side of the foot to rotate the wheel below, the other side of the hand will be placed in the soft clay on the top of the wheel, molding and kneading shape.

The earliest wheels in Mesopotamia consisted of circular plates securely nailed to an axle. By 3000 BC, the axle was mounted on a wheelbarrow, and the wheel was not directly attached to the body. Soon afterward, wheels with spokes appeared. These primitive wheelbarrows were clumsy, but much better than the human shoulders and beasts of burden (usually donkeys) that had always been used before.

Wheels were also used early in the construction of chariots. They were first used to charge into enemy lines and force the enemy to scatter, and later they were used as fighting platforms on which charioteers could stand and throw javelins at the enemy to kill them.