Archaeologists Discover Bronze Age Wheel In 'Britain's Pompeii'

(Photo : Getty Images/Christopher Furlong) Archaeologists in the UK have discovered an ancient wooden wheel dating back to the Bronze Age.

A 3,000-year-old ancient wheel from the Bronze Age, was recently uncovered at an archaeological site known as "Britain's Pompeii". 

Archeologists working at Must Farm in Peterborough, Britain recently announced the discovery of the wheel, which is the biggest complete example of a wheel to be found in the UK, writes Nature World News.

The discovery will give researchers better insight into the transportation and technologies used by people during the Bronze Age. The wheel shows that the people who resided in the area 3,000-years-ago also shows that people who lived there were able transport themselves from the local watery terrain to dryer areas beyond a nearby river, according to a University of Cambridge release.

"This remarkable but fragile wooden wheel is the earliest complete example ever found in Britain," said Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, in a press release announcing the discovery. "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."

The area was nicknamed Pompeii because the ancient settlement of stilt-built wooden round houses were very well preserved in river silt - following a large fire that caused the houses to collapse into the river.

The recently discovered wooden wheel is believed to date back to between 1100-800 B.C. and will reshape our understanding of these people who lived so long ago.

"Among the wealth of other fabulous artifacts and the new structural remains of round houses built over this river channel, this site continues to amaze and astonish us with its insight into prehistoric life, the latest being the discovery of this wooden wheel. Believed to be the most complete example yet found from this period, this wheel poses a challenge to our understanding of both Late Bronze Age technological skill and, together with the eight boats recovered from the same river in 2011, transportation," Kasia Gdaniec, Senior Archaeologist for Cambridgeshire County Council, said in a statement from Historic England.