Abstract:
Considered to be the most important and complex human invention, the wheel
helped mankind reach its present level of development. Pictograms, schematic drawings, stone
bas-reliefs or ceramic inlays coming from various archaeological sites and more than five
millenniums old represent the first testimonies related to the existence of the wheel and its use
by humans. The authors approach the issue of the emergence of the wheel and its improvement
in time, starting from the first rolling bodies, logs and stone balls, less frequently used. The
evolution process of the wheel was a long one, and finding the best solutions for transporting
the bigger and heavier charges was a remarkable challenge for the engineers of the past
centuries, being a multiple-phased long process.