The Evolution of Transportation Technology them Ultimately they put the sledges on tree limbs as rollers which led to the development of wheels on an axle USING ANIMALS FOR TRANSIT In ancient times people began experimenting with domesticated animals to help carry passengers and goods Dogs were domesticated at least fifteen thou sand years ago being used both as guards and as a food source At some point people began to use teams of dogs to carry loads a tradition that is still seen in dogsledding today Camels were used in ancient Africa and Asia to transport people and their belongings Domesticated horses were used to pull chariots long before they were saddled for individual riders Horses became common in Egypt around 1700 BCE when they were brought over from Syria Horses could travel faster than camels but were also more prone to exhaustion in the desert heat Relatives of the camel the llama and alpaca have been used in South America for thousands of 8
Early Transportation years to help transport goods Meanwhile elephants were used in Asia and Africa for transport for hauling logs and for warfare The larger African elephants were more temperamental and harder to control In the third century BCE the Carthaginian general Han nibal invaded Italy by crossing the Alps with an army that included thirty-seven elephants After several battles in difficult terrain however only his elephant survived INVENTING THE WHEEL Logs were used as rollers long before the invention of the wheel The first wheels then were likely cut from logs It is not known exactly when the wheel first came into existence but a Sumerian artifact from around 3500 BCE shows a sledge with wheels and the Mesopotamians were using the wheel to spin pottery about the same time As the technology improved over time wheels were attached to a fixed axle and could make easier turns Around 2000 BCE Egyptian chariots featured a spoked wheel that was more sophisticated than a 9
Improvements on the wheel log The earliest wheels were disks cut from a log cleat Further improvement was made by sandwiching three disks with the wood grain crossing at angles of 60 degrees peg rim Wheels of larger diameter were made from three boards held together with cleats and wooden pegs peg fellie hub Stronger wheels were made by sandwiching two disks with the wood grain crossing at right angles The middle boards of the disks above led to the development of six spoke wheels with rims and large hubs to keep the wheel from wobbling 2012 Encyclopædia Britannica Inc Wheels developed over time They began as rough pieces cut from logs and were made stronger and easier to operate with the use of layered wooden disks followed by spokes pegs and rims simple wheel cut from a log Spoked wheels were stronger and wobbled less but they were suitable only for lighter loads The Roman Empire which covered large parts of Europe northern Africa and the Mediterranean islands needed advanced transportation methods for far flung trade and communications The Romans thus developed vehicles for a variety puppies of
Early Transportation from covered carriages to farm carts as well as light weight racing chariots for entertainment They built a vast paved highway system outward from Rome around two thousand years ago TECHNOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Although there is no record of the wheel in North or South America before the arrival of Europeans the Incas built a road system through the central Andes Mountains that stretched as far as 2,250 miles 3,624 kilometers The thousands of stone steps on this Inca highway were suitable for human messengers and porters as well as for llamas carrying packs weighing up to about 70 pounds 32 kilograms In North America subarctic tribes made wooden sleds called toboggans to move heavier articles Snowshoes also improved conditions for travelers walking long distances in harsh winter weather American Plains Indians designed a travois a type of sled pulled by people or by sled dogs After the arrival of Europeans Native Americans also began to ride horses and to use them to pull travois 11
