Wood anatomy and construction technique of Late Bronze Age rural cartwheels

A recent archaeological discovery of a Late Bronze Age cartwheel in north eastern France (Erstein, Alsace) has shed important new light on the technical development of wheels in Europe. The well-preserved wooden fragments were discovered at the base of a water well and were in secondary use as wedges to adjust a well lined with a hollowed tree trunk. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon results gave a chronological classification to the Late Bronze Age in 13th century BCE. Although the discovered wheel was not complete, these fragments provide a clear picture of the overall wheel design and allow a detailed reconstruction. The wheel disc comprises three parts that are held together by stump tenon joints and two mutually curved insertion strips with dovetail profiles that are located on opposite sides. The two outer boards have crescent-shaped cut-outs. The planks for the disc wheel were crafted from sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), and the strips and tenons were crafted from hazel (Corylus avellana) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior), respectively. The results of wood identification indicate that the selection and processing of wood were predominantly based on specific knowledge and supra-regional traditions. The recent find from Erstein is also compared with what is currently known from other Bronze Age sources from Europe. Together, these results clearly demonstrate that there were almost no regional variations in construction techniques from south of the Alps to northern Europe.