A new modeling study suggests that the wheel was invented by copper miners in the Carpathian Mountains around 6,000 years ago. This theory is one of three major hypotheses on the origin of the wheel, which revolutionized transportation and pottery making. The study used techniques from structural mechanics to investigate how ancient people may have turned simple rollers into a wheel-and-axle system.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/1st-wheel-was-invented-6-000-years-ago-in-the-carpathian-mountains-modeling-study-suggests