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==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] hweogol, hwēol; akin to Old Norse hvēl wheel, [[Greek]] kyklos [[circle]], wheel, [[Sanskrit]] cakra, [[Latin]] colere to cultivate, inhabit, [[Sanskrit]] carati he moves, wanders
*Date: before [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Century 12th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : a [[circular]] frame of hard [[material]] that may be [[solid]], partly solid, or spoked and that is capable of turning on an axle
*2 : a contrivance or apparatus having as its principal part a wheel: as a : a chiefly medieval instrument of [[torture]] designed for mutilating a [[victim]] (as by stretching or disjointing)
:b : bicycle
:c : any of many revolving disks or drums used as gambling paraphernalia
:d : potter's wheel
:e : steering wheel
*3 a : an imaginary turning wheel [[symbolizing]] the inconstancy of fortune
:b : a recurring [[course]], [[development]], or [[action]] : [[cycle]]
*4 : something (as a round flat cheese) resembling a wheel in shape
*5 a : a curving or circular [[movement]]
:b : a [[rotation]] or turn usually about an [[axis]] or [[center]]; specifically : a turning movement of troops or ships in line in which the [[units]] preserve alignment and [[relative]] positions as they change direction
*6 a : a moving or [[essential]] part of something [[compared]] to a [[machine]] <the wheels of [[government]]>
:b : a directing or controlling [[force]]
:c : a [[person]] of importance especially in an [[organization]] <a big wheel>
==Description==
A '''wheel''' is a circular device that is capable of [[rotating]] on an axle through its [[center]], facilitating [[movement]] or [[transportation]] while supporting a load ([[mass]]), or [[performing]] labour in [[machines]]. Common examples are found in transport [[applications]]. A wheel, together with an axle overcomes [[friction]] by facilitating [[motion]] by rolling. In order for wheels to [[rotate]], a [[moment]] needs to be applied to the wheel about its [[axis]], either by way of [[gravity]], or by [[application]] of another external [[force]]. More generally the term is also used for other circular objects that rotate or turn, such as a ship's wheel, steering wheel and flywheel.
==History==
[[Evidence]] of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_millennium_BC 4th millennium BCE], near-[[simultaneously]] in Mesopotamia, the Northern Caucasus ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maykop_culture Maykop] culture) and Central Europe, and so the question of which [[culture]] originally [[invented]] the wheeled vehicle remains unresolved and under [[debate]]. The earliest well-dated depiction of a wheeled vehicle (here a wagon—four wheels, two axles), is on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronocice_pot Bronocice pot], a ca. 3500–3350 BCE clay pot excavated in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funnelbeaker_culture Funnelbeaker culture] settlement in southern Poland.
The wheeled vehicle from the area of its first occurrence (Mesopotamia, Caucasus, Balkans, Central Europe) spread across Eurasia, reaching the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization Indus Valley] by the 3rd millennium BCE. During the 2nd millennium BCE, the spoke-wheeled chariot spread at an increased pace, reaching both China and Scandinavia by 1200 BCE. In China, the wheel was certainly present with the adoption of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot chariot] in ca. 1200 BCE,[6] although Barbieri-Low argues for earlier Chinese wheeled vehicles, circa 2000 BCE.
Although they did not develop the wheel proper, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec Olmec] and certain other [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_hemisphere western hemisphere] cultures seem to have approached it, as wheel-like worked stones have been found on objects identified as children's toys dating to about 1500 BCE.[8] Early antiquity [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubia Nubians] used wheels for spinning pottery and waterwheels. It is thought that Nubian waterwheels may have been ox-driven[11] It is also known that Nubians used horse-driven chariots imported from Egypt.
The [[invention]] of the wheel thus falls in the late [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic Neolithic], and may be seen in conjunction with the other [[technological]] advances that gave rise to the early [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age Bronze Age]. Note that this implies the passage of several wheel-less millennia even after the [[invention]] of [[agriculture]] and of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery pottery].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel]
[[Category: The Sciences]]
[[Category: History]]
[[Category: Archaeology]]
==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] hweogol, hwēol; akin to Old Norse hvēl wheel, [[Greek]] kyklos [[circle]], wheel, [[Sanskrit]] cakra, [[Latin]] colere to cultivate, inhabit, [[Sanskrit]] carati he moves, wanders
*Date: before [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Century 12th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : a [[circular]] frame of hard [[material]] that may be [[solid]], partly solid, or spoked and that is capable of turning on an axle
*2 : a contrivance or apparatus having as its principal part a wheel: as a : a chiefly medieval instrument of [[torture]] designed for mutilating a [[victim]] (as by stretching or disjointing)
:b : bicycle
:c : any of many revolving disks or drums used as gambling paraphernalia
:d : potter's wheel
:e : steering wheel
*3 a : an imaginary turning wheel [[symbolizing]] the inconstancy of fortune
:b : a recurring [[course]], [[development]], or [[action]] : [[cycle]]
*4 : something (as a round flat cheese) resembling a wheel in shape
*5 a : a curving or circular [[movement]]
:b : a [[rotation]] or turn usually about an [[axis]] or [[center]]; specifically : a turning movement of troops or ships in line in which the [[units]] preserve alignment and [[relative]] positions as they change direction
*6 a : a moving or [[essential]] part of something [[compared]] to a [[machine]] <the wheels of [[government]]>
:b : a directing or controlling [[force]]
:c : a [[person]] of importance especially in an [[organization]] <a big wheel>
==Description==
A '''wheel''' is a circular device that is capable of [[rotating]] on an axle through its [[center]], facilitating [[movement]] or [[transportation]] while supporting a load ([[mass]]), or [[performing]] labour in [[machines]]. Common examples are found in transport [[applications]]. A wheel, together with an axle overcomes [[friction]] by facilitating [[motion]] by rolling. In order for wheels to [[rotate]], a [[moment]] needs to be applied to the wheel about its [[axis]], either by way of [[gravity]], or by [[application]] of another external [[force]]. More generally the term is also used for other circular objects that rotate or turn, such as a ship's wheel, steering wheel and flywheel.
==History==
[[Evidence]] of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_millennium_BC 4th millennium BCE], near-[[simultaneously]] in Mesopotamia, the Northern Caucasus ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maykop_culture Maykop] culture) and Central Europe, and so the question of which [[culture]] originally [[invented]] the wheeled vehicle remains unresolved and under [[debate]]. The earliest well-dated depiction of a wheeled vehicle (here a wagon—four wheels, two axles), is on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronocice_pot Bronocice pot], a ca. 3500–3350 BCE clay pot excavated in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funnelbeaker_culture Funnelbeaker culture] settlement in southern Poland.
The wheeled vehicle from the area of its first occurrence (Mesopotamia, Caucasus, Balkans, Central Europe) spread across Eurasia, reaching the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization Indus Valley] by the 3rd millennium BCE. During the 2nd millennium BCE, the spoke-wheeled chariot spread at an increased pace, reaching both China and Scandinavia by 1200 BCE. In China, the wheel was certainly present with the adoption of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot chariot] in ca. 1200 BCE,[6] although Barbieri-Low argues for earlier Chinese wheeled vehicles, circa 2000 BCE.
Although they did not develop the wheel proper, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec Olmec] and certain other [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_hemisphere western hemisphere] cultures seem to have approached it, as wheel-like worked stones have been found on objects identified as children's toys dating to about 1500 BCE.[8] Early antiquity [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubia Nubians] used wheels for spinning pottery and waterwheels. It is thought that Nubian waterwheels may have been ox-driven[11] It is also known that Nubians used horse-driven chariots imported from Egypt.
The [[invention]] of the wheel thus falls in the late [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic Neolithic], and may be seen in conjunction with the other [[technological]] advances that gave rise to the early [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age Bronze Age]. Note that this implies the passage of several wheel-less millennia even after the [[invention]] of [[agriculture]] and of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery pottery].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel]
[[Category: The Sciences]]
[[Category: History]]
[[Category: Archaeology]]
