The discovery of the Bronze Age wheel will help scientists get a better idea of how our ancestors got around.
The wheel is the oldest, largest and most complete wheel ever found in Britain, according to Cambridge University. It reveals a number of intriguing facts about Bronze Age technology, writes Rossella Lorenzi for Discovery.
Scientists say that the wooden wheel dates from 1100-800 BC, and was found at a dig site that has been described as Britain’s Pompeii. The site, which is found in the county of Cambridgeshire, was called home by a number of families who built their circular houses on stilts above a river.
A dramatic fire caused the inhabitants to flee around 3,000 years ago, and the buildings fell into the river where they were preserved by silt and clay. The wheel is among a number of items preserved by nature.
That's a shame, but not exactly a Pompeii.
It measures around three feet in diameter and was found close to the remains of the largest house. Scientists say that is is very well-preserved and is constructed of five panels of solid timber fixed together, with a reinforced hub in the middle.
The team of researchers were at first confused by the discovery, because the wheel was found in marshy land near a river on which people navigated using boats. In 2011 the team uncovered 8 canoes of different sizes at the site.
Were they short little guys, with hairy feet?
“The discovery of the wheel demonstrates that the inhabitants of this watery landscape had links to the dry land beyond the river,” David Gibson, Archaeological Manager at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, said in a statement.
So they had a cart, or chariot for when they needed to go across land? I'm not really that surprised.
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