Who Invented the Wheel, How and When?

Although the wheel, without which it is impossible to imagine a world today, is indispensable for transportation, its purpose of use was completely different when it was found for the first time. Let’s take a closer look at who invented the wheel, which is literally a human invention because it has no analogues in nature.

There are many inventions and inventions that have changed world history in a way that it will never be the same again. While inventions are created out of nothing; Inventions are the discovery of something that already exists. Therefore, rather than asking who invented the wheel, the question of who invented the wheel is much more accurate. Our topic is the wheel, because the invention that turns today’s modern world is undoubtedly the wheel.

You might think that the wheel, the ancestor of today’s modern tires, was invented for transportation. But the inventor of this invention wasn’t the first to use the wheel for transportation. Of course, over time, societies developed the wheel and made vehicles to achieve maximum efficiency with minimum manpower. Bride Who invented the wheel, or rather when was it invented? Let’s take a closer look at the question.

When was the wheel invented?

Not surprisingly, the wheel was invented in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization. We don’t know for sure, but about the wheel The oldest evidence points to the dates 4200 – 4000 BC. According to the finds, independently of the Mesopotamian peoples, the Chinese also invented the wheel in the 2800s BC.

There is another answer to the question of when the wheel was invented, but the explanation for this claim is Even the archaeologist later deleted this post. Allegedly, a toy car was found that marked the year 5500 BC. It is normal to abandon this claim because even if the wheel was invented in those years, it is almost impossible to be mounted on a car and used as a toy.

Who invented the wheel and how?

first wheel

There is nothing like a wheel in nature. That’s why our ancestors somehow used this tool. they could not have found it from nature and used it by copying. This means that the wheel is an invention entirely produced and developed by the human mind. Here’s another reason to be proud of our primitive ancestors.

There is no answer to how the wheel was invented, and there is no answer to who invented it. Because we are talking about thousands of years ago. Records of such inventions and inventions were probably not kept by a patent office at the time. For this reason, it is a question mark who is the inventor of this invention that changed the destiny of humanity. Maybe not even a single inventor.

Why was the wheel invented?

pottery wheel

As we imagine, our ancestors did not invent the wheel to make it easier to transport goods from one place to another. Already at that time Sledges lubricated with animal fat or muddy soil were used. Considering that huge pyramids and temples were built with this method, and that even Fatih Sultan Mehmet drove ships from land with a similar system, we do not think anyone needs wheels.

Wheels were needed, not for transportation, but for making pottery.. found in the oldest finds. The purpose of the wheels was to be a potter’s wheel. You must have seen; A soft lump of clay is placed on this wheel, as the wheel turns, the clay is shaped and the result is a wonderful bowl. This is why our ancestors invented the wheel.

When did the wheel begin to be used for transportation?

wheel drawings

The use of wheels for transportation rather than transportation by being attached to a vehicle began hundreds of years after its invention. The first wheeled vehicles according to the finds in parts of Europe and Asia It was used in 3500 – 3350 BC. We know with almost certainty that the first vehicles were four-wheeled.

We find the first examples of wheeled vehicles in a neolithic village called Bronocice, which is located within the borders of Poland today, and in an area within the borders of Iraq today. However, these examples dated 3650 – 3100 BC They are not vehicle finds, but vehicle depictions. These depictions, found on a vessel in Poland and on a tablet in Iraq, show us four-wheeled vehicles.

Located near the city of Kiel in Germany today, the signs follow the years 3420 – 3385 BC, reveals that the vehicle used is not a sled, but a wheeled one. The first two-wheeled car depictions appear in a burial gallery in Lohne-Engelshecke, Germany. Depictions of two-wheeled chariots date from 3402 to 2800 BC.

The use of wheels in different civilizations of the world:

wheel horse

Civilizations outside of Europe and Asia also independently invented the wheel. indigenous peoples of North America It has been seen that they made wheeled toy horses in the 1500s BC. However, before the continent was discovered and Europeans flocked to the region, the wheel was not used for any other purpose.

There are no traces of wheel use in Africa. According to the remains found in Egypt, the Nubians, a civilization that lived in 400 BC, They used wheels as pottery wheels and water wheels. There are many drawings showing the Chinese using two-wheeled wheelbarrows around 150 BC.

Wheel from yesterday to today:

wheel evolution

Wheels that were invented and used thousands of years ago are most likely they were sliced ​​tree trunks or thick discs not very thinly worked. However, this situation quickly changed. Because this primitive system had to be developed as a result of domestication of animals, switching to agriculture and urbanization.

ace flags; Wire wheels, which have been used in many different vehicles, especially horse carriages, for hundreds of years, were first used around 2000 BC. It was invented in the Anatolian lands where our country is located. The oldest finds of spoked wheels, which had a visible advantage in wars, point to the years 2100 – 1800 BC.

With the invention of axles, the wheels began to turn independently and gain superiority in cornering. Around 800 – 450 BC Iron frames used in Celtic chariots We see the first tire samples. The tire we use today was patented in 1847 by Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson. Mass production began in 1888. We all know what happened next.

Undoubtedly, on the question of who invented the wheel that changed the history of the world in transportation and transportation. When was the wheel invented? We answered the question and talked about the place of this important invention in world history.


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