DEVELOPMENT OF THE WHEEL

The first necessity for the development of wheels was hard flat ground, not rocky, marshlands, or sand.

Then because of the bumps and dips, they needed big wheels – small wheels like those on skate boards only work on really flat ground.

Because the wheels were so big, it meant that the axle was high up and the carts had to be broad – thin carts would have fallen over – so very early we get the 2 seater which you climb up onto.

Even elephant tracks weren't wide enough. Slowly a network of dirt roads were developed. Often the bumps in the road meant going slowly – so it's usually oxen pulling the load, not horses.

Sitting high up had 2 advantages: you could see over the ox's head, and, the facts of life are, when an ox farts, shit shoots out, so this landed underneath the cart instead of on top of it. It was altogether a successful design.

First came solid wheels, slices of tree trunks – which needed clamping in, otherwise they fell apart – then someone came on the idea to replace the clamps with spokes – and the first spoked wheel developed around 2,000BC.

Around 1,500 BCE. steel was developed (from mixing carbon in with the iron – carbon was originally won from cow dung) – so then a light cheap bendable metal was available to make metal rims outside the wheel – and, a vital factor for smooth rotation: a metal casing between the axle and wheel hub to contain the animal fat.

Possibly the first spoked wheel was a spinning wheel. (The spinning wheel didnt need steel rims, but how did the hub work?)

Originally animal skins had been wettened and wrapped round the wheel, these tightened all the joints in the wheel as they dried. After the development of steel rims, a blacksmith heated the rim and as this cooled it tightened all the joints in the wheel.

Life went on ...

The structure and weight of a spoked wheel made it far more efficient and meant it lasted far longer than a solid wheel, and so it was worth the extra effort and cost.

Steel gave a massive boost to civilisation. Copper and even bronze, were heavy, expensive, and hard to work with. This new cheap, strong, easily workable, metal, could also make farm equipment light enough for a horse to pull. Steel made both farming and trading, easy and successful. Steel was the key factor, it revolutionised civilisation. From this time, cultures diversified prolifically into specialist trade groups.

The spoked wheel combined the specialised knowledge of at least 20 trades from forestry and curing woods to metal smiths.

Local rulers developed the quality of local roads to facilitate progress.

Markets opened up, Mobility in general opened up, people could move with their belongings and family.

And as always(?), with technical advancements – Steel also facilitated new war weapons and military warfare.

Chariots were the first tank. And we can well understand how impressive they were for parades in local areas with good roads.

Chariots are reported early on – they were often far narrower with smaller wheels, with the axle ca: 1 foot or 30 cm. from the ground. Chariots usually replaced the wooden spokes and rims with metal ones, the use of metal spokes may explain why they are reported so early.

Even if you didn't have enough money to buy a cart and donkey, you realised how important wheels were. Wheels were the future. Wheels meant status. Everyone wanted wheels.

Internet has tons of little problems, the wheel had only two problems : bumpy roads and Dukkha. Dukkha meant the wheel didn't run smoothly, it creaked and squeaked, grinded and wobbled. It needed constant maintenance filling the hub rooms with animal fat. (A very secondary problem was that after a few years the steel rims became loose as the wood shrunk).

The first ball-bearing idea – a series of metal rods – could well have been made and used around 500 BCE. but would have been very uncommon... (I wonder what Buddha would have made of the "wheels within wheels" idea).

On the American continent, they had no horses donkeys or cows or any 'beast of burden' till they were 'imported' from Europe. Buffalo could not be tamed to pull or carry heavy loads. In Mexican archeology digs they found childrens toys with wheels – so, they understood the concept, but never developed it, because no animal could pull the weight.

The development of the wheelbarrow was secondary to carts. (A wheelbarrow with a solid wheel would have been too heavy to push. The wheelbarrow wasn't useful enough to warrant the development of a small lightweight spoked wheel complete with its hub mechanism.)

Unlike storytellers → books → town criers → radio → television → internet and then a new invention every day – the spoked wooden wheel stayed pretty much the same for centuries – up until the 1800s when trains, rubber tires, bicycles and cars were invented.

(Much of this is from my imagination and i could well be wrong somewhere – i'd love any extra info. from a wheelwright or other experts.)

Please continue with Development of the Meanings of Dukkha and Sukkha

Back to Dukkha in Depth
Back to Chapter Four : Buddhism and Wheels
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