Did the Sumerians invent the wheel or were they just the first people to refine its use?

It is still being debated by historians as to whether or not the wheel was invented by the Sumerians. They were the first to refine its use by building wooden wheels that attached to horses for plowing. The oldest wheel that has been uncovered was determined to be from Mesopotamia and dated around 3500 BCE. This was the period of the Bronze Age, and humans were already farming and herding animals. Historians mostly agree that was...

It is still being debated by historians as to whether or not the wheel was invented by the Sumerians. They were the first to refine its use by building wooden wheels that attached to horses for plowing. The oldest wheel that has been uncovered was determined to be from Mesopotamia and dated around 3500 BCE. This was the period of the Bronze Age, and humans were already farming and herding animals. Historians mostly agree that was rather late for the wheel to be invented. However, one reason that it took until this point in history was that metal tools were needed to create the holes and axles. The wheel was also not just a cylindrical object that rolled on its side but was a cylinder that was attached to a stationary platform. The wheel-axle formation was a complex development which is why it is not surprising that the wheel, when first invented, was not used for transportation. Potters were most likely the first users of the wheels, the wheel found in Mesopotamia was determined to be a potter’s wheel. The idea that wheels could be used for transportation did not come about until 300 years later.

Determining the origin of an invention as old as the wheel is complex because of the simple reason that it was such a long time ago. For instance the oldest wheel may have been found in Mesopotamia but the oldest images of carts with wheels were discovered in Poland and the Eurasian steppes. Some historians believe that the complexity of the wheel’s design led to it only being designed once and then spread to other parts of the world. Other historians believe the wheel was instead developed independently around the same time across the world. Currently it is believed that the wheel either first came from Mesopotamia or the Eurasian steppes. There is contradictory evidence as to which area was the true birthplace of the wheel. While the oldest wheel found may have come from Mesopotamia, the linguistic evidence supports the idea that it originated in the Eurasian steppes.