In this gold signet ring from shaft grave IV in Mycenae dated LH II (about 1500 BC) a bow-armed warrior and his chariot-driver are represented hunting from a small box-chariot.
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A dagger or short sword is probably hang on the man right side at waist level.Īs for the other similar chariots also in this one the four-spoked wheels are positioned near the centre of the cab, and a shaft running horizontally from the yoke to the front of the cab further strengthened the vehicle. Also in this case a single man is driving a two-wheeled small box chariot. The adversary on foot assaults the man on the chariot with a long lance, on which can be seen an object of a peculiar form, which much resembles one of the plain Trojan idols (*2), and must have served to attach the lance to the shoulder.Ī stele with a possible hunting scene is also from the royal-shaft grave circle in Myceane. The chariot-box is here exceedingly low, and very small when compared with that of the chariot on the other tombstone, but it is not less remarkable, because it is surrounded by a band or fillet. In another gravestone from Mycenae dated from the same period another small box-chariot is represented, in this case the reins hold by the singol charioteer are well indicated by one broad band. This representation it has usually been understood as an Achaian warrior running down his opponent, nevetheless it has been also argue that the scene could instead represent an aristocrats at funeral game, where chariot races were later the highest entertainment for trained men at death of King. In his right he holds a long object, which ends at the horse's mouth, and which being at first thick and becoming gradually thinner, resembles much more a lance than the reins and it is difficult to say which of the two the artist intended to represent.A man on foot stands placidly in front of him holding a large club, stick or sword. The man on the chariot holds in his left hand a sword which is still in the sheath. This sculpture shows a single man driving a two-wheeled small box chariot. On a gravestone from the royal Shaft-grave V in Mycenae dated LH II (about 1500 BC) there is one of the earliest depiction of the chariot in Achaean art. No complete Achaeans chariots survived even if some metallic parts and horse-bites have been found in some graves and settlements furthermore chariots bodies, wheels and horses are inventoried in several Linear B tablets.
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Despite the general opinion horse-mounted warriors were also used during the Late Helladic time even if the main utilization of the horse was as chariots drawer. Both these utilizations are in fact also mentioned in the Iliad (*1). The "dual-chariot" is attested since the middle of the 15th century BC and"rail-chariot" seems appeared only around the LH IIIB (about 1300 BC) when this horse-drawn weaponry was not only used as mobile fighting vehicle but also as battlefield transport. The first two and the "four-wheeled chariot", in different variants, are attested since the early period of the Late Helladic time.
![chariot races facts chariot races facts](http://www.worldchariot.org/wp/wp-content/themes/worldchariot/images/12.jpg)
![chariot races facts chariot races facts](https://cdn.thecollector.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/charioteer-palazzo-massimo-1.jpg)
The Achaean chariots can be conventionaly divided into five main design which can be identify as "box-chariot", "quadrant-chariot", "dual-chariot", "rail-chariot", and "four-wheeled chariot". It was not until the mid 15th century BC that the chariot appears on the Crete island, as attested by a seal engraving and the linear B tablets. It seems in fact that the chariot does not seem to have come to the mainland via Crete, but the other way around. The use of the chariot was more likely diffused in the Greek mainland from the Near East after the Middle Bronze Age (about 1950-1550 BC) as a result of the Central and East Europe migration flows and Achaeans' trade contacts with that regions. It seems that the Achaeans adopt the chariot for use in warfare in the late 16th century BC as attested in some gravestones as well as seal and ring. The chariot, probably invented in the Near East, became one of the most innovative weaponry in Bronze Age warfare.