ooden wheels reigned for more than five millennia. Whether pulled by horses, donkeys, oxen, cows, dogs, or humans, they endured through centuries and civilizations. Every village had its wheelwright, the craftsman specialized in making and repairing wooden wheels, until the beginning of the 20th century, when mechanization emerged, sweeping away the wheelwrights and an entire agricultural tradition based on animal traction. Wooden wheels were replaced by metal, then by tires — stronger, faster, more comfortable, but so much less charming.