The Wheel
The use of the wheel for transportation took its origin in the vast Eurasian steppe, in today’s Ukraine and the Urals of Russia. From there the cart spread over the whole earth. The oldest wagons were found in the area north of the Black Sea and date from the copper age of the 4th and 3rd millennium BC.
The Lab
The “Andronovo” laboratory is part of the modular concept and starting point of the exploration. In this lab, the chariot is discussed and the regional cultures that initiated this development. The invention of the spoked wheel was crucial for the further development of wagons and the first chariots of the Eurasian Steppes and the Middle East.
The First Carts
The oldest cart models are from the Trypillya region on the Dnepr (today’s Ukraine) and the northern Caucasus foothills, from the contact zone between Indo-Europeans and Old Europeans (4th and 3rd millennium BC). The Romans completed the development of the cart with the well-known swivel joint (around 100 BC), which allowed for improved agility.
The Archaic Chariot
The heavier carts with full wheels, comparatively huge disc wheels, were further developed and replaced by subsequent cultures such as the Sintashta and the Indo-iranian Andronovo culture (2300 – 1000 BC) in the Bronze Age. Around 1700 BC the invention of the chariot was established at the border area between today’s Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush.
The Spoked Wheel
The lightweight construction of the spoked wheel enabled faster mobility compared to the heavy full wheels and thus contributed to the rapid spread of this technology. New, lighter wood materials and metals were used. Known spokes-wheel spies are found among the Indo-Iranians (from 2100 BC), the Mitanni empire (1500 – 1300 BC) and the Egyptian Empire (New Empire: ca. 1550 – 1070 BC), Assyrians (New Assyrian Empire from the 900 BC) and in the Persian world empire (from 550 BC).
