Amazing Cart Ruts ⭐ Who build the mysterious tramway in Malta?

What are Malta’s cart ruts?

Beside their buildings and temples, thousands of years ago people slackened a rail-like network on the rocky surface of Malta. Then they did not move around randomly, but were sedentary. The cart ruts – routes run through valleys, and overpasses, to the settlements and partly disappear in the sea. They seem to connect places, temples, tombs, and fields. These ruts appear like a transportation system. The crossings resemble an old-fashioned railroad station of a big city or tracks of modern marshalling yards. Therefore, the Maltese cart ruts are given the pet name Clapham Junction by the London railroad station. Abela had the cart ruts explored for the first time in 1647. Cart slides are an almost unknown attraction in Malta.

What are the dimensions of the cart ruts and how deep are they?

The cart ruts are between a few centimetres and an astonishing 0.60 meters deep and between 15 and 25 centimetres wide. How do you explain the different depths? Due to the unevenness, a small depression does not require such a deep track, according to researcher J. S. Ellul. According to his records 90 years ago, unevenness in the terrain was levelled. The parallel cart tracks are about 120 centimetres apart. In forks and curves, the track is spread to 140 centimetres. A few cart ruts found are up to 3 kilometres in length.

How old are the cart ruts in Malta?

There is little evidence for a chronological estimate. Many rational and some less rational theories have been put forward. None has found general acceptance.

• The cart ruts are interrupted by burial shafts. These are attributed to the Punic period of occupation.
• Towards some Neolithic temples, these traces run.
• The Romans built their roads 2000 years ago with a foundation of smaller stones and stone slabs on top.
• Some traces are in the sea. Possibly, 4500 years ago the Mediterranean was less spread.
• They are millions of years old before mankind was wiped out with a tidal wave.

The quote, not all roads lead to Rome, is true for this prehistoric tramway. These cart tracks and cart ruts were most likely created before the Roman period. Many archaeologists estimate the time between 2300 and 1000 BC. During this period, Malta was repopulated. Prehistoric hand tools from the Bronze Age were found in a few places. The material is not found in Malta. Therefore, experts assume that the tool was introduced to Malta at this time.

From this period, wheels were created for the first time in the Mesopotamian city of Uruk. Riddle upon riddle: were wheels invented at the same time worldwide? Or are cart ruts one up to 23 million years old, as the Russian geologist Dr Alexander Koltypin researched? He meant that mankind was wiped out for the first time millions of years ago by a kilometre-high tidal wave. That would explain the cart ruts leading to nowhere. The EU funding program CULTURE 2000 on the cart ruts at universities from Malta, Spain, and Italy did not provide any clarity.

What were the cart ruts used for?

This question remains unanswered to this day. The cart ruts found so far are heavily worn and are said to be unsuitable for in-depth studies. There are conjectures for irrigation or transport. For transportation, two wooden beams or bronze runners and oxen are suspected, so either as pole drags or sledges. Traces in the rock of the hooves of oxen were not discovered until 2022. This is not surprising, because hooves made of horn do not leave traces in the stone. Archaeologists are not sure if there was enough wood on Malta. Other unanswered questions: Can runners be moved in card ruts? Do they get caught? The researcher J. S. Ellul found a lava stone chariot wheel next to the Tarxien temple. He thought 90 years ago that the builders of cart ruts already formed wheels. This is confirmed by the first surviving wheel find.

In which places are card ruts found?

There are more than 30 places where these card ruts exist. Few of them end at sea cliffs. Did Malta have a different footprint at that time? Was Malta directly connected to Europe during its formation? The most famous pairs of tracks can be found in

• Birzebugga
• Borg l-Imramma
• Borġ in-Nadur
• Buskett Gardens
• Dingli Cliffs
• Dwejra Point (früher Azure Window)
• Filfla
• Ghar Hassan, Hal Far
• Ħaġar Qim
• Ix-Xarolla, Zurrieq
• Misraħ Ghonoq
• Mnajdra
• Qala Hill
• Ras il-Pellegrin, Gnejna Bay
• San-Lawrenz
• Skorba
• Ta’-Ċenċ-Plateau
• Ta’ Tingi, Xewkija
• Tal-Baqqari, Zurrieq
• Tal-Qadi
• Tan-Nemes, Qala, Fliegu ta ‘s Gawdex
• Tarxien
• Wardija ta’San Ġorġ

Sources: D. Bradley, J. S. Ellul, Airmalta, M. I. Trinkler, own exploration.

Why are cart ruts found in the ocean?

It cannot be explained rationally. Many questions are unanswered. Maybe cart ruts are much older than the majority of researchers assume. Or is the thesis of Erich von Daniken about the creation by extraterrestrials correct? Did parts of Malta fall into the sea at the cliffs?

For the historian D. Bradley, the cart ruts to the cliffs speak against the construction by the Romans. Because what sense should it have had for the Romans to build roads to 30 meters or 160 meters high cliffs? The book author Josef S. Ellul suspects 90 years ago that the furrows were created even before a Flood. Then you would be several thousand years older. Malta may have been connected to Sicily during its creation. On the other hand, is striking, many cart ruts are found in the south towards Africa and Gibraltar.