aryan invasion

[Vidhyanath Rao]

"H.M.Hubey" <hubeyh at MONTCLAIR.EDU> wrote:

> Vidhyanath Rao wrote:

> It was probably so because metal was stil expensive. Drilling
> for spokes requires metal and so does the axle. Without those
> you'd have serious problem. Leather would wear out quickly and
> was probably a cheap-grade substitution.

Please, read Spruytte's ``Early Harness systems''.
Wooden axles, from suitable trees are durable enough.

I am not contesting that metal tools would be required.
I am just not convinced that they were lacking in the steppes,
whether imported or made locally or both.

> The metal rim on wheels and metal axles would not make it
> worse, but better. After all friction and unevenness is
> probably worse than having a few pounds to roll.

Lack of fit was taken care of (again in Tut's chariot) by
having a long sleeve extend from the hub over the axle. In fact,
this is precisely why Littauer and Crowell reject the idea that
the Sintasha vehicle was a ``real'' chariot.

Also I doubt that casting a cyldrincal axle to the required
tightness or polishing metal axles is that easy.

--------

May be someone can tell me the answers to the questions this thread
raises: What IE tree names are there in Indo-Iranian? Isn't Skt bhuurja
cognate to birch? If so, how long could PI-Ir speakers live in treeless
areas without losing that word? Anybody know references to pollen
studies or such that can tell us about the flora of 3rd-2nd m. BCE steppes?
---
Nath