wheel
wheel, a circular frame of hard material that may be solid, partly solid, or spoked and that is capable of turning on an axle. A Sumerian (Erech) pictograph, dated about 3500 bc, shows a sledge equipped with wheels. The idea of wheeled transportation may have come from the use of logs for rollers, but the oldest known wheels were wooden disks consisting of three carved planks clamped together by transverse struts. Spoked wheels appeared about 2000 bc, when they were in use on chariots in Asia Minor. Later developments included iron hubs (centerpieces) turning on greased axles, and the introduction ...(100 of 345 words)