There's a chance the wheel was invented by women if you dig into it a bit. Though I'm sure men figured out to use them for chariots, a nice of warfare there.
'The first
wheels were not used for transportation.
Evidence indicates they were created to serve as potter's
wheels around 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia—300 years before someone figured out to use them for chariots.'
The Origins of the Potter's Wheel
by Victor Bryant
The Sumerian Culture - The First Urban Civilization
The story probably begins in the Middle East around 4000 BC (6000 BP). The village settlements were growing in size and prosperity. A new phase in man's development was happening. In what is today southern Iraq, or Ancient Mesopotamia, the first urban civilization was being created; villages grew into towns and then towns into the great city states: Ur, Uruk, Ubaid, Eridu, Lagesh etc. By 3000 BC. the people of these cities, the Sumerians, had already established a sophisticated trading commercial culture. This was the first town and city based civilization on this planet. New crafts and occupations evolved. More skills and tools were invented.
The Effects of Specialising
To a great extent all was triggered as a result of increased division of labour and job specialisation within earlier small communities. Of course some men still hunted and fished, but others now planted crops and reared animals and, as they became more experienced, farming methods improved, food production increased and so did the population. Trade expanded over the whole region. More pots were needed and various ways were tried to speed up all the pottery techniques: making, decorating and firing.
Who did what - Men or Women?
Most of these changes affected the work and life style of the men much more than their womenfolk. Most women were already almost fully occupied and "specialising" in the vital task of bearing and rearing children. Any other tasks done by the women must therefore have been part-time and close to the home.
Women almost certainly developed the techniques of sewing, weaving and basket making in most prehistoric communities. They were probably also the first real potters - the makers of bowls, dishes, jugs etc. so it is not surprising that in these early village societies building a basket and coiling a pot had a lot in common.
