Although the invention of the wheel about 6,000 years ago revolutionized everything from transportation to pottery making, its precise origins remain a mystery to archaeologists. But a new study using techniques from structural mechanics suggests that Eastern European copper miners may have been the driving force behind three major innovations in wheel technology as early as 3900 BC.
Archaeological evidence of wheels and wheeled chariots of the Copper Age (ca. 5000 to 3000 BC) abounds throughout Europe, Asia and North Africa, including graffitied battle scenes, miniature wheels, children’s toys, chariot burials, and even early textual references to the technology. . Because the wheel was Adopted so quicklyHowever, it is unclear exactly where and when it was first invented – or if it was invented independently at different times and places.
There are three main theories about the origin of the wheel. One suggests that he first appeared in Mesopotamia Around 4000 BC then it spread to Europe. Another theory suggests that it developed around the Pontic coast in northern Türkiye around 3800 BC. The third major theory says that the wheel was invented in the Carpathian Mountains between 4000 and 3500 BC, and spread in different directions from there.
This is the third theory put forward by the historian in 2016 Richard Bullittan emeritus professor at Columbia University and co-author of the new study, is based on the idea that from about 4,000 B.C., much-needed copper ore became harder to find, requiring miners to travel deeper into mines and haul containers. Of ore retreat. Models of Late Chalcolithic wagons found in the Carpathians are rectangular in shape with trapezoidal sides — similar to today’s mining cars, Pollitt wrote in the book.The Wheel: Inventions and Innovations(Columbia University Press, 2016).
In a study published on Wednesday (October 23) in the journal Royal Society Open SciencePollitt and co-authors Kay Jamesan aerospace engineer at Georgia Tech, and Lee Alacoka former engineer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, detailed their model of how the wheel likely evolved.
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Starting with their knowledge of ancient wheel systems based on archaeological evidence, the team used computational mechanics and design science to investigate how people transformed a set of simple pulleys into a wheel and axle system.
In their study, the researchers suggested that three innovations were needed for the wheel to evolve. Given the need to move a heavy basket or box, people would likely use pulleys placed along the track, moving the rear rollers forward as needed.
The first innovation – grooved pulleys – allowed the box to rest on the pulleys and move back and forth, without people having to walk around to replace the pulleys. This may have allowed people to push a wider cart into the mine. The second innovation was a set of wheels, or wheels mounted on an axle, which would have given the cart more room to pass over rocks and other debris in the mine shaft. The third innovation, where the wheels move independently of the axle, likely originated about 500 years after the wheel set, adding maneuverability to the design, according to the newspaper.
After creating an optimized wheel assembly design, the team discovered, based on their computational analysis, that the evolution of the wheel and axle from simple pulleys was a reasonable path that reflected an increasingly energy-efficient design. But Carpathian mines may have influenced the design as well.
“The environment in which the original wheel developers were working had some unique features that encouraged the shift toward pulley-based transportation,” James told Live Science in an email. “Basically, these environmental features — for example, a narrow, enclosed track — pushed the wheel developers toward this specific design.”
However, researchers note that the wheel did not stop developing in the Copper Age. For example, the invention of radial ball bearings in 1869 led to major advances in the automobile and machinery industries in the 20th century.
Although the new model may explain how the wheel was invented in Eastern Europe, and perhaps spread from there, it may not be the final word on the subject. “I think it’s still possible that multiple civilizations could have independently discovered the wheel on their own,” James said.
James said the computational design approach the researchers took in this study can be applied to other archaeological questions. “For example, I think there is still a lot to learn about exactly how to do that The pyramids were built“Computational mechanical design can be effective in answering some of these questions,” he said.
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