archaeology in china again

 

1. Very interesting.

   At first glance I was taken aback a bit at the seeming Flintstones construction of these chariots, with their great slab wheels and massive axle posts. But a quick bit of research into other chariot sites of the same dynasty made me realize that what we’re looking at is accretions; the mud of 3000 years built up on the surfaces and nearly turned to stone. Underneath that will be finely spoked wheels, a hinged back door, and perhaps folding seats. Pity that their horse collar never progressed much beyond an inverted forked stick.

   With the dropped axle design these chariots would have ridden closer to the ground compared to Hyksos/Egyptian ones and been more stable, but those massive posts and the necessarily huge connecting timber underneath would make them weigh much more and thus be slower.

   I guesses I’m just a bit surprised that they didn’t have spring steel contoured I-beam axles in China 3000 years ago. WTH, they say they invented everything else eons before the rest of us.

   Posted by Drew458       09/02/2011  at  11:40 AM  

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