Ox and Cart
Ox carts provided the best method of carrying trade goods along the Silk Road. Other goods that passed along the Silk Road in carts like these were precious stones, metals, glass, medicines, cotton goods and spices. This image is from the Tang Dynasty of China, c. 720 CE, the capital of which, Changan, formed the eastern end of the Silk Road.
-- How comfortable was travel along the Silk Road?
-- How fast could you go?
-- What did you need to bring with you?
-- How much stuff could you bring in the first place? How would this affect your trading behavior?
Source: Leonard von Matt / Rapho Guilumette from the Royal ONtario Museum, Ontario, Canada The March of Islam (Time Life Books, 1987): 98.