3000-year-old wheel dug up from mud in the UK

By Catherine Hardy

The news

Archaeologists in the UK have unearthed what is thought to be the largest and oldest example of a wheel from the Bronze Age.

The 3,000-year-old discovery was made at a site in the county of Cambridgeshire which has been dubbed “Britain’s Pompeii”.

The historical heritage of the finds at Must Farm is said to rival that of the famous town buried by an erupting volcano in Italy.

The one-metre diameter wooden wheel has been dated back to as far as 1,100 BC.

Three Bronze Age round houses have been discovered at the site with their contents intact inside.

What they are saying

“Complete wheels are very rare. This is the first complete wheel from the UK. There are fragments of other wheels. So this puts us in the same context as our European colleagues.” – Mark Knight, Cambridge University archaeologist at the Must Farm dig.

“The existence of this wheel expands our understanding of late Bronze Age technology and the level of sophistication of the lives of people living on the edge of the Fens 3,000 years ago.” – Historic England Chief Executive Duncan Wilson.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-01-20

good, so they don't have to reinvent it.

Now, if they can now find the wheel of justice, tolerance and peace, the world wheel will be a better place

to live in....

The guy in the picture, looks about 3,000 years old. You already have Stone Hinge. I think that nothing will top that !

They forgot to mention it was square?

Hello,

They found only one wheel... it means that 3000 years ago they already played the "Wheel of Fortune"

Hello,

They found only one wheel... it means that 3000 years ago they already played the "Wheel of Fortune"

,.... or they had invented a large unicycle or mono cycle.

It was made in Thailand. Everyone knows the wheel was invented here........

3000-year-old wheel dug up from mud in the UK

Really, you guys need to improve road service response time over there.

Don't be nasty to the Pomms, they used to invent all sorts of things, even then went on to manufacture them as well.

Kind of like many western countries I guess, till CEOs figured they could up their bonuses and outsource to China. Just as well the trickle down effect has offset the job losses to the economies.

Whilst it is fantastic that you found a 3000 year old wheel.

Osborne missed his borrowing target by £ 7 Billion.

Try and dig him up some treasure, he is getting desperate.

About the same size as the Wheel of Fortune.

They found it had been damaged by a pot hole

The guy in the picture, looks about 3,000 years old. You already have Stone Hinge. I think that nothing will top that !

How rude, I will report you the garden gnomes rights society.

They found the wheel, but we're they smart enough to invent a cart to fit on it. Bit like the chicken and the egg.

I can just imagine Zoeg saying hey the wheel looks great but what the hell do we do with it.

Looks like they did reinvent the wheel

The guy in the picture, looks about 3,000 years old. You already have Stone Hinge. I think that nothing will top that !

It's Stonehenge not Stonehinge

The guy in the picture, looks about 3,000 years old. You already have Stone Hinge. I think that nothing will top that !

It's Stonehenge not Stonehinge

Please do not become unhinged over the matter.