Chariot

For other uses, see Chariot (disambiguation).
Reconstructed Roman chariot drawn by horses.
Approximate historical map of the spread of the spoke-wheeled chariot, 2000—500 BCE

A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses[note 1] to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 1950–1880 BCE[1][2] and are depicted on cylinder seals from Central Anatolia in Kültepe dated to c. 1900 BCE.[2] The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was the spoked wheel.

The chariot was a fast, light, open, two-wheeled conveyance drawn by two or more equids (usually horses) that were hitched side by side, and was little more than a floor with a waist-high guard at the front and sides. It was initially used for ancient warfare during the Bronze and Iron Ages, but after its military capabilities had been superseded by light and heavy cavalries, chariots continued to be used for travel and transport, in processions, for games, and in races.


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kuznetsov was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Lindner, Stephan (April 2020). "Chariots in the Eurasian Steppe: a Bayesian approach to the emergence of horse-drawn transport in the early second millennium BC". Antiquity. 94 (374): 361–380. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.37. ISSN 0003-598X. S2CID 216205961.