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Emerging Research on the Development of the Wheel
The wheel, one of humanity’s most transformative inventions, remains shrouded in mystery. Historians agree it revolutionized transportation and labor efficiency, yet no one knows exactly when or where it was invented. New research published in Royal Society Open Science by engineers and a historian proposes a compelling theory: the wheel may have originated in an Eastern European copper mine approximately 6,000 years ago.
Using computational modeling, the researchers reconstructed the stages of its development, reports Phys.org, shedding light on how ancient miners might have incrementally refined their tools to create the first wheel.
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The Wheel’s Early Evolution
While the wheel was widespread by 3,000 BC, its origins likely date back thousands of years earlier. The researchers suggest it began with the use of simple rollers, such as stripped tree trunks, to move heavy loads. Such devices would have made transporting ore down steep mountain slopes significantly easier for early miners.
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