Horse and cart (England, 2013)Dockworkers and hand cart (Haiti, 2006)
A cart is a two-wheeled vehicle designed for transport. It can be pulled by humans or draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or smaller animals such as goats and large dogs.
The word cart is often used incorrectly to indicate four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicles. Over time, the word "cart" has expanded to mean nearly any small conveyance without regard to number of wheels, load carried, or means of propulsion. The word car has often been modified to cart through colloquialization. For example, several small sport and hobby cars carry "cart" in their name such as pedal carts (manually pedaled), soap-box carts (gravity run), and go-carts (gas engine). Similarly, golf cars are more commonly known as golf carts.[1]
A cartwright is a builder of carts, and a carter is the person operating a horse and cart for haulage.[2] The surname "Carter" derives from the occupation.
The history of the cart is closely tied to the invention of the wheel. Pre-dating the wheel there were dragged devices like sledges and travois. The earliest known wheels date back to around 3400 to 3000 BC. The combination of the wheel and axle enabled the development of early wheeled vehicles which transformed human mobility and trade. The earliest wheeled vehicles had four-wheels (wagons), however two-wheeled vehicles (carts) required about 40% less pulling force than a four-wheeled vehicle of the same weight and were more maneuverable.[3][4][5]:65-66
With the domestication of animals such as oxen and horses, carts became central to ancient economies. Animal‑drawn carts and wagons were widely used across civilizations for farming, trade, and migration. Their evolution—from solid wooden wheels to lighter spoked designs—marked a major technological advance, improving efficiency and enabling long‑distance transport.[6][5]
Small human pushed or pulled conveyances commonly called carts can have any number of wheels (not limited to two). The term handcart can mean any of numerous small conveyances.[8]
Hand truck: A two-wheeled upright handcart for moving boxes, sacks, large appliances and other loads
Baggage cart: for travelers to carry luggage in places like airports and train stations
Shopping cart: a wheeled basket supplied by a store for use by customers inside the premises as they move around selecting items prior to paying for those goods
Serving cart: for transporting prepared food for serving to customers such as in a restaurant or airplanes; may be named for what it carries, such as tea cart for tea service, or pastry cart for offering desserts at a restaurant
Carts may be drawn by animals, such as horses, donkeys, and oxen. They have been in continuous use since the invention of the wheel. Carts may be named for the animal that pulls them, such as horsecart, donkey cart, oxcart or dog cart (not to be confused with dogcart which is a horse-drawn vehicle that carried dogs).[9]:62
Carts have many different shapes, based on what is being transported and the shape of the draught animal. When being pulled by a single animal, carts have a pair of shafts that support and balance the cart, and the weight of the shafts on the animal is carried by a padded harness saddle. When a cart is being pulled by a pair of animals, it has a single pole between the pair. Draught traces attach to the vehicle on one end, and to a collar, yoke, or other parts of the harness. Traces are made from leather, chain, rope, or other materials.[10]:14ff
The term "cart" is a category of horse-drawn vehicles which have two wheels, however as slang it has been used to mean any horse-drawn vehicle including those with four wheels—though mainly for farm wagons and commercial wagons which have corresponding two-wheeled equivalents or forerunners.[10]:6[11]:40[12]:79 The horsecart category includes carts whether pulled by horses, ponies, donkeys, or mules, because the methods of harnessing is the same for all equids. Carts can be divided into freight-carrying carts and passenger carts, with the nicer passenger carts also named cars.[12]:69,79
Examples of horse-drawn carts include:
Cocking cart: short-bodied, high, two-wheeled, seat for a groom behind the box; for tandem driving[11]:53[13]
Dogcart: light, usually one horse, commonly two-wheeled and high, two transverse seats set back to back[11]:66
Float: a dropped axle to give an especially low load bed, for carrying heavy or unstable items such as milk churns. The name survives today as a milkfloat.[11]:79
Governess cart: light, two-wheeled, entered from the rear, body partly or wholly of wickerwork, seat for two persons along each side; also called governess car, tub-cart[11]:88
Ralli car: a two-wheeled vehicle for two persons facing forward, or four back to back.[11]:139
Stolkjaerre: two-wheeled, front seat for two, rear seat for the driver; used in Norway[11]:155
12Anthony, David W. (2007). The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton University Press. ISBN9780691058870. OL11182657M.
↑Piggott, Stuart (1983). The Earliest Wheeled Transport. Thames and Hudson. ISBN9780801416040.
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