Sled | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Sled

The sled may have been the first land vehicle used by mankind. Also called a sledge, it is a vehicle with parallel runners instead of wheels that is dragged or pushed and is used to convey a load, especially over snow and ice. Probably the most primitive sled was made of animal skin onto which early man placed his load, usually a dead animal, and dragged it using vines or ropes of some kind. Dragging a heavy load is always easier than carrying it any distance. The true sled with some type of runners is thought to have evolved from the primitive "travois" which was composed of either a single branch of a tree or two wooden poles, one end of which dragged along the ground while the other end was supported or tied to the person or animal pulling it. The load being carried or dragged by a travois was usually placed and tied across the two branches or poles at about midlength. Another early and very simple precursor of the sled was made from a forked or V-shaped branch with cross pieces tied to the wider parts of the V, and which was dragged by its single end. These early dragging devices inevitably became a flat platform that was dragged along the ground, to which runners of some sort eventually were added. It is known that the skilled forest dwellers of Neolithic Europe made wooden runners for their sleds some 8,000 years ago, since some still survive having been preserved in the peat swamps of Denmark. These sleds are thought to have been pulled with thongs made of hide. In the north, sleds ran easily over ice and snow, but they were also employed in the south on dry land, with water or even milk poured on the ground in front of the runners when necessary.

With the advance of civilization and the growth of organized communities, mankind was required to move ever heavier objects. In ancient Egypt, heavy stone and timber loads to build the pyramids were hauled along the ground by teams of straining slaves. Many images still exist of massive sleds with huge loads being pulled by ropes. Others also show highly decorated sleds being used as a hearse in Egyptian royal funeral processions. It is significant to note that the Egyptians used sleds over sand in which wheels would have sunk. They also used sleds without runners that were aided by the insertion of log rollers underneath the sled's floor. As each roller was in turn left behind as the sled rolled slowly forward, it was taken back to the front to be reused and rolled over once again. From this roller system, the wheel eventually evolved.

Sleds were most commonly used in northern climates because of their ease in running over ice and snow, and the excavation at Oseberg, Norway of a tenth century Viking burial ship contained several sleds among other things. Besides one hand-drawn sled that had obviously received everyday use, the remaining sleds were all very ornate and used only for ceremonial purposes. Still, sleds were used extensively in the frozen north. Also, in northern Asia and North America which is covered with snow much of the time, native peoples perfected the use of harnessed dogs or reindeer to pull light sleds. As late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was customary in parts of England to load hay and wheat that had been cut onto light sleds and haul them from the fields to the barn. Sleds were especially useful over terrain that could not accommodate a wheeled vehicle. Sleds naturally played a major role in polar expedition, and the dog-sled was the only method of transporting men and supplies across the vast wastes of ice that mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century Arctic explorers had to cross. It is partly this exploring tradition that later Canadian dog-sled "Derbys" would commemorate. Today's annual Iditarod race in Alaska is a continuation of this old winter pastime.

Sleds are also used for the simple fun of gliding down a snowy hill, and in nineteenth-century America, sledding became a regular winter pastime for children. Early American sleds were made of hardwood and often had turned up runners. However, sleds with runners that thrust to a point were called "Clippers" and used only by boys. Girls used "Cutters" whose runners were elegantly curled upward. Boys rode downhill headfirst, while girls sat down. The first "Flexible Flyer" was the invention of the Pennsylvania farmer, Samuel Leeds Allen. In 1889, his patent described a T-shaped runner with slatted seat that was steerable. Over fifty years later, the sled had become such an integral part of growing up in America that it appeared in the classic film, "Miracle on 34th Street." By the end of the twentieth century, sleds have made the nearly complete transition from transport vehicle to recreation vehicle, and the use of molded plastic sleds that coast easily without runners has transformed sled design.