Which Ancient Society REALLY Invented the Wheel?

Dan Davis History November 20, 2025
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Dan Davis History

@dandavishistory

About

Welcome to my channel featuring history and prehistory documentaries. I am not a historian or an archaeologist but you will find all my historical sources in the video descriptions. I am an author of historical fantasy and science fiction novels. Follow the link below to find all my books on Amazon; Gods of Bronze, the Immortal Knight Chronicles, and the Galactic Arena series.

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💥 https://wtplay.link/dandavishistory — Download War Thunder for FREE and get your bonus! WT Mobile link - https://wtm.game/ddh Few inventions have reshaped human history as profoundly as the wheel. For a long time, it was assumed that Mesopotamia — as “the cradle of civilization” — was the birthplace of the wheel. But over the last few decades, new discoveries in Europe have challenged this old assumption. Because the earliest known tracks of wheeled vehicles anywhere in the world are from northern Germany. The oldest model wheels in the world are from Ukraine. The oldest preserved wooden wheel in the world comes from Slovenia. And the earliest graves containing wheels and wagons were dug into the East European steppe. So who invented the wheel? And when was the wheel invented? And why was the wheel invented, as well as the axle, the wagon, and the cart? This is the story of the invention of the wheel. *If you enjoy my videos please consider supporting the channel* Become a YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUVwT8zcS5Z_rYXnpomlbfg/join Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/dandavisauthor All my books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xngwz5 *Sources* The Horse, the Wheel, and Language https://amzn.to/4nZZGiX The Lost World of Old Europe https://amzn.to/44YY7LN The First Farmers of Europe https://amzn.to/3wNDcqA The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe https://amzn.to/43eSVRO The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age https://amzn.to/3WYFqmF The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited https://amzn.to/4r5ACd8 The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European https://amzn.to/4i0P3uN The Lost World of Old Europe https://amzn.to/44YY7LN The Tripolye culture Giant Settlements of Ukraine https://amzn.to/4m2xEDb Maidanets-ke https://www.sidestone.com/books/maidanets-ke Tripolye Typo-chronology https://www.sidestone.com/books/tripolye-typo-chronology Mischka D. The Neolithic burial sequence at Flintbek LA 3, north Germany, and its cart tracks: a precise chronology. Antiquity. 2011;85(329):742-758. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00068289 Prehistoric Wooden Wheel with an Axle from the Pile-dwelling Stare Gmajne at the Ljubljansko Barje, Anton VELUŠČEK, Katarina ČUFAR & Martin ZUPANČIČ 2019 Pigière F, Smyth J (2023) First evidence for cattle traction in Middle Neolithic Ireland: A pivotal element for resource exploitation. PLoS ONE 18(1): e0279556. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279556 Alacoque LR, Bulliet RW, James KA. 2024 Reconstructing the invention of the wheel using computational structural analysis and design. R. Soc. Open Sci. 11: 240373. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240373 Some Notes on Pictograms Interpreted as Sledges and Wheeled Vehicles in the Archaic Texts from Uruk, Stefan Burmeister, Theo J. H. Krispijn and Peter Raulwing, 2019 Absolute Chronology of the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr Periods at Uruk, Southern Mesopotamia The Interpretation of Additional 14C Samples, Margarete van Ess 2015 The Züschen I Megalithic Monument (Kassel, Hessen) and its Engravings. Animal Traction, Ploughs, Carts and Wagons in Neolithic Europe, Emmanuel Anati, Mário Varela Gomes 2013 Bondár, M. (2023). The paradigm shift in the later fourth millennium BC. •: Why did life change in the Middle Copper Age in the heartland of the Carpathian Basin?. Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 74(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1556/072.2023.00001 Bondar, Maria & Maria,. (2012). Bondár Mária: Prehistoric wagon models in the Carpathian Basin (3500-1500 BC). Budapest 2012. Archaeolingua. Series minor 32. Early Wagons in Eurasia: Disentangling an Enigmatic Innovation, Stefan Burmeister 2017 Mischka, D., 2022. Das Neolithikum in Flintbek, Kr. Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein [Band 1]: Eine feinchronologische Studie zur Besiedlungsgeschichte anhand von Gräbern, Frühe Monumentalität und soziale Differenzierung: Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung neolithischer Großbauten und erster komplexer Gesellschaften im nördlichen Mitteleuropa. Verlag Rudolf Habelt, Bonn. https://doi.org/10.38071/2025-00126-3 Bondár, M. (2018). Prehistoric innovations: Wheels and wheeled vehicles. Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 69(2), 271-297. https://doi.org/10.1556/072.2018.69.2.3 The Copper Age Cemetery of Budakalász, Bondár, M., 2009 The above includes affiliate links so we may make a small commission from your purchases at no additional cost to you which is a way to support the channel. *Video Chapters* 00:00 The Invention of the Wheel 01:30 Sponsorship 03:15 Before the Wheel 5:10 Sledge Models 7:35 Wheeled ox 8:59 Flintbek wheel tracks 11:10 Bronocice Pot 12:05 Züschen megalithic art 12:42 The Ljubljana Marshes Wheel 15:04 Carpathian Mining Hypothesis 18:24 Late 4th Millennium Mobility Changes 19:47 Steppe Wagon Burials 23:39 Linguistic Evidence 25:40 Mesopotamian Symbols 28:46 Spread of the Wheel

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