Researched
Draft Animals & Muscle Power
Oxen and donkeys pull ploughs and loads - for the first time the work no longer comes from humans alone.
Open in the interactive tree →With the domestication of cattle, donkeys and later horses, Neolithic farmers began using animal muscle for ploughs, sledges and carts. An ox team delivers many times the output of a person and made larger fields and longer hauls possible. Until the steam engine, muscle power of humans and animals remained the world's main source of mechanical work.
Prerequisites
- Farming (Neolithic Revolution)~9500 BC
- Animal domestication~9000 BCDraft animals must first be domesticated
Unlocks
- The plough~3500 BCEarly ploughs were pulled by oxen and donkeys: draft-animal power
- Wheel~3500 BCThe first wheeled wagons were pulled by oxen