transportation: Africa domestication of the horse presented problems that ancient peoples did not fully overcome Although oxen have big, prominent shoulders to press against heavy yokes, horses not The best solution to harnessing a horse probably came from China, where a breast strap was invented This strip of leather stretched around the horse’s chest It restricted the horse’s breathing and could compress arteries that brought blood to the horse’s brain, which meant the horse was limited in the loads it could haul This meant that while horses were great for speed, oxen remained in use, as they are still, for hauling heavy loads The movement of people and goods were important to ancient governments, and they often tried to regulate transportation Some tried to it all at once, as did the Qin Dynasty of China of (221–207 b.c.e.), regulating even the lengths of axles so that the ruts in roads would be evenly spaced and could be used by all carts Others built up their regulations through many years of traditions, as in ancient India Still others, like the Romans, imitated the regulations of other peoples Each culture reflected its customs in its transportation For instance, the Romans regarded pedestrian traffic to be essential to their way of life, and they therefore forbad produce carts in their cities during the day and built sidewalks of raised stone that forced wheeled vehicles to slow down, protecting pedestrians When thinking of pedestrians, it would be well to remember that although the developments in ancient transportation were exciting and sometimes led to dramatic change in the fortunes of civilizations, most people continued to walk The ancient world was one in which people mostly carried their needs themselves Even in the advanced culture of China’s Han Dynasty (202–220 b.c.e.) road workers were expected to carry all their tools and food themselves, even to remote parts of the empire Many people were too poor to afford to ride or even to have an animal pull their goods In some parts of the world, the use of the wheel and beasts of burden came very late or not at all, as in much of the Americas and Pacific islands 1111 where the Carthaginians, Numidians, and others made extensive use of them for relaying messages Horses or donkeys could be used as pack animals to carry people and important messages or to pull carriages or carts, which were made with solid wheels in Egypt and neighboring areas from at least 3000 b.c.e Bullocks and oxen were also used for this purpose The carts they pulled were large wooden ones; some had solid wooden wheels, while others had spoked wheels For long-distance travel across deserts and inhospitable terrain (as opposed to forest travel) caravan routes were fairly clearly defined Camels were the principal beasts of burden in these conditions, and because their feet are sensitive, their escorts cleared paths through the stones that normally litter a desert In this way routes were established On shorter journeys where feed was available, horses and donkeys would be used Oases, wells, and trading posts lay along these defined routes; for reasons of safety and security, these would be no more than one day’s journey apart Crossing rivers was a task often solved by rafts guided by ropes The Greek historian Polybius (ca 200–ca 118 b.c.e.) refers to the Carthaginians making rafts for their elephants to cross the river Rhône in Europe, and it seems likely that similar rafts would have been used to carry elephants, horses, wagons, people, and goods across rivers in North Africa Because the empires of Carthage and Rome were supported largely by slave labor, the used of manual labor for loading and unloading goods from ships would have been commonplace For some vessels at small ports, it might also have been necessary to load things onto barges for transportation between the ship and its final destination or from the quay to the ship Many items were transported in barrels, making it comparatively easy to roll them to their destination Large numbers of slaves would have worked at the docks and in the mines and quarries around Carthage, and they would have carried tools, stones, and other materials by hand The Carthaginians were well known for their use of elephants, AFRICA BY J USTIN CORFIELD Inland travel in Africa was regarded as particularly hazardous, and most early traders seem to have preferred traveling by boat Many of the large settlements in North Africa (excluding those in Egypt) were consequently close to the coast In sub-Saharan Africa there were also large settlements along rivers and around lakes, so it seems probable that vessels were constructed primarily for navigating rivers Goods were clearly traded along the river Niger from an early date Horses were domesticated in the European steppes around 4000 b.c.e and in Egypt by 3000 b.c.e., so it seems likely that the use of horses for transportation would have come to the rest of Africa through Egypt The horses people initially used were much smaller than the modern domesticated horse and were better for pulling carts or chariots than carrying riders The use of the larger cavalry horses came later, and their use quickly spread throughout North Africa Petroglyph of camel and horse, from the Sahara Desert at Tassili, Algeria, North Africa (© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Photographer: Jeanne Tabachnick)