Prehistoric Wagon Models in the Carpathian Basin (3500–1500 BC)

The invention of the wheel and of wheeled vehicles was one of the major innovations with a lasting impact on human history. Wheeled conveyances played an important role in the life of prehistoric communities and contributed to the emergence of an invisible network of contacts between neighbouring and more distant communities. They played a crucial role in travel, transport and communication, in economic and cultural interaction, and in the transmission of customs, material goods and exotic commodities. Representing the rarity and uniqueness of this technical innovation, the earliest miniature models of wheeled vehicles often had a symbolic meaning attached to them and they often figured prominently in the realm of beliefs. Mária Bondár’s study on the wagon models of the Copper and Bronze Age offers a comprehensive overview of vehicle studies in the Carpathian Basin, together with a discussion of new, previously unpublished wagon models.