How wheel was invented: Unlikely birth of world-changing technology

Imagine you're a copper miner in south-eastern Europe in the year 3900 B.C.E. Day after day you haul copper ore through the mine's sweltering tunnels.

- THE CONVERSATION

You've resigned yourself to the gruelling monotony of mining life. Then one afternoon, you witness a fellow worker doing something remarkable.

With an odd-looking contraption, he casually transports the equivalent of three times his body weight on a single trip. As he returns to the mine to fetch another load, it suddenly dawns on you that your chosen profession is about to get far less taxing and much more lucrative.

What you dont realise: Youre witnessing something that will change the course of history —not just for your tiny mining community, but for all of humanity.

Despite the wheel's immeasurable impact, no one is certain as to who invented it, or when and where it was first conceived. The hypothetical scenario described above is based on a 2015 theory that miners in the Carpathian Mountains - in present-day Hungary — first invented the wheel nearly 6,000 years ago as a means to transport copper ore. The theory is supported by the discovery of more than 150 miniaturised wagons by archaeologists working in the region. These pint-sized, four-wheeled models were made from clay, and their outer surfaces were engraved with a wickerwork pattern reminiscent of the basketry used by mining communities at the time.