As early as in ancient times, people used the hoof feet of herds to trample, rub and tamper the soil to treat the foundations of houses, compact the dams and river banks, and before the mid-19th century, the road works in the West were made of gravel. The sub-paving is mainly used, and the compaction mainly relies on the natural rolling of vehicles. It was not until 1858 that the invention of the stone rolling machine promoted the development of the gravel road, and the use of horse-drawn rollers for compaction gradually appeared. This is the earliest prototype of the road roller.
 
The steam roller appeared in France in 1860, which further promoted and improved the construction technology and quality of gravel pavement, and accelerated the progress. At the beginning of the 20th century, gravel pavement was recognized as the best pavement in the world at that time, and it was promoted all over the world. The concept of compaction was gradually known, and road rollers also appeared on various road construction sites.

In the mid-19th century, the invention of the internal combustion engine brought great vitality to the development of compaction equipment. The first internal combustion engine-driven road rollers were born in the early 20th century.Then came the tire roller, the sheep foot roller and the smooth roller were produced almost at the same time. People have studied the compaction effect of the static roller, and it is believed that increasing the weight of the roller can improve the compaction effect.

Therefore, for a long period of time, people have devoted themselves to the development of large-tonnage road rollers. The largest tire rollers once weighed more than 200 tons. However, during this period, the changes of road rollers mainly reflected the improvement of power and appearance.