Wood that is waterlogged or desiccated can be preserved for a significant period, but, under normal conditions, wood usually disintegrates within a century or two  For this reason, archaeologists have been unable to find many remains of early wheeled vehicles to examine  However, archaeologists have found small ceramic models of wheeled vehicles made at approximately the same time as those early vehicles
Since these models have been much less susceptible to disintegration than the vehicles themselves, the main evidence regarding early wheeled vehicles has come from these models
Of the early wheeled vehicles not preserved, more were made of wood than were made of materials no more susceptible to disintegration than are ceramic items.