this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2025
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At the very least, novel applies. Lots of things roll, but what in nature has an axle? I'd also like to clarify that they probably didn't use stone in real life, because that would be dumb. I suppose if we're insisting it's monolithic stone that's true just because of the raw time it would take. And oh boy, they better be careful not to crack it.
If you have a proper axle, you have a lathe and turning a solid wheel for a cart shouldn't be too hard. Failing that, or failing the idea to try turning, it has to be freehand, but plenty of people could do that (more so than today, probably, since every moment we spend in a classroom or office is a moment they would be working with their hands).
If it has to be a wheel that's strong and light like for a chariot, it gets harder and you'll need actual wheelwright skills, but just a cart should be able to run an a solid wheel. If you're going for a chariot you probably want a reasonably well-fit axle as well, although my knowledge of chariot driving is too limited to be super sure.
I would argue axels came first, and the wheel is a derivative. See the likely methods accepted by (non ancient alien) archeologists for paleolithic to bronze age wonders made from stone; they used logs on the ground as rollers, essentially an axel, it wouldn't take much of a leap to carve out the majority of those logs to lighten the load, creating a fixed wheel axel, which just needs a semipermanent but smooth rolling attach point to a vehicle or tool to be even more useful.
When I say axle (that is the correct spelling for this, according to a quick search, FYI), I mean it has a stationary bearing in which it turns. So what you're calling a "semipermanent but smooth rolling attached point". A roller is a completely different simple machine with no sliding surfaces.