The Computational Archaeology Laboratory, Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
PLoS One. 2024 Nov 13;19(11):e0312007. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007. eCollection 2024.
'The wheel and axle' revolutionized human technological history by transforming linear to rotary motion and causing parts of devices to move. While its ancient origins are commonly associated with the appearance of carts during the Bronze Age, we focus on much earlier wheel-shaped find-an exceptional assemblage of over a hundred perforated pebbles from the 12,000-year-old Natufian village of Nahal Ein-Gev II, Israel. We analyze the assemblage using 3D methodologies, incorporating novel study applications to both the pebbles and their perforations and explore the functional implications. We conclude that these items could have served as spindle whorls to spin fibres. In a cumulative evolutionary trend, they manifest early phases of the development of rotational technologies by laying the mechanical principle of the wheel and axle. All in all, it reflects on the technological innovations that played an important part in the Neolithization processes of the Southern Levant.
“轮轴”通过将线性运动转化为旋转运动并使设备的部分部件运动，从而彻底改变了人类技术史。虽然它的起源可以追溯到青铜时代出现的车轮，但我们关注的是更早的轮状发现——来自以色列 12000 年前的纳图菲安村庄纳哈尔·埃因·格夫二世的一百多个穿孔鹅卵石的异常集合。我们使用 3D 方法分析了这个集合，将新的研究应用于鹅卵石及其穿孔，探讨了它们的功能意义。我们的结论是，这些物品可能曾被用作纺轮来纺线。在一个累积的进化趋势中，它们通过奠定轮轴的机械原理，体现了旋转技术发展的早期阶段。总的来说，它反映了在黎凡特南部的新石器化过程中发挥重要作用的技术创新。
