quas wrote:The current historical consensus is that, "The first wheelbarrow in Europe appeared sometime between 1170 and 1250."

Whereas the usage of chariots was already prevalent much earlier, historians say that there's evidence of chariots/wheeled carts use as early as 4th millenium BC when the humans first domesticated horses.

So why did it take so long (5000 years!) for people who already knew how to use wheeled carriages to invent the wheelbarrow?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelbarrow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot

However, Lewis proposes that the wheelbarrow could have also existed in ancient Greece.[9][22] Based on the Eleusis list, Lewis states that it is possible that wheelbarrows were used on Greek construction sites, but admits that archaeological evidence for the wheelbarrow in ancient farming and mining is absent.[9] He surmised that wheelbarrows were not uncommon on Greek construction sites for carrying moderately light loads. He speculates the possibility of wheelbarrows in the Roman Empire and the later Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire, although Lewis concludes that the evidence is scarce, and that "most of this scenario, perforce, is pure speculation."[23] The 4th century Historia Augusta reports emperor Elagabalus to have used a wheelbarrow (Latin: pabillus from pabo, one-wheeled vehicle[24][25]) to transport women in his frivolous games at court.[26] While the present evidence does not indicate any use of wheelbarrows into medieval times, the question of continuity in the Byzantine Empire is still open, due to a lack of research yet.[9] Currently, there is no archaeological evidence for the wheelbarrow in ancient Greece and Rome.

Alan B wrote:What did we use when building early cathedrals and forts, etc.? Are there any records?

It would seem strange if a stonemason didn't have some sort of wheeled conveyance.

Thomas Eshuis wrote:

Alan B wrote:What did we use when building early cathedrals and forts, etc.? Are there any records?

It would seem strange if a stonemason didn't have some sort of wheeled conveyance.

Cathedrals (as in the large elaborate structures) did not appear until the end of the High-, start of the Late medieval period.Other than that horse carts were available

Alan B wrote:Just had a thouhjt.
Traveller comes back home and sees all these porters carrying large stones. He gets the local carpenter to make this new contrivance he saw on his travels.

'Suddenly' loads of porters have lost their jobs...