It is not certain where wheeled vehicles were first made. Some burials around 3500 BC in Armenia contain carts. It is likely that at a similar time they were coming into use in Mesopotamia where some centuries later the first writing includes signs for wheeled vehicles, depicted as sledges with wheels.
Models from Europe and Asia of open and covered wagons and art from Mesopotamia depicting war chariots show that these early vehicles had solid wheels and were heavy and clumsy. Nevertheless they provided the means to travel with far more possessions than pack animals could carry. In conjunction with the horse and the development of horse-riding, wheeled vehicles were instrumental in enabling a new mode of life to develop on the steppes of Asia.
By 1900 BC, if not earlier, these wagons were becoming more manoeuvrable with the invention of the spoked wheel which was light but strong. Another development of importance to the success of pastoral nomadism was the shift from keeping animals for meat to their exploitation for milk. By 1500 BC the success of these innovations could be seen in the spread of pastoral nomads throughout the steppe region.
