University of Malta study dates most cart ruts to the classical period

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Key facts

• A comprehensive assessment of Malta's cart ruts by Joel Grima of the University of Malta was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, combining digital surveying, archaeological excavation, statistical analysis and historical records.
• The study identified 2,628 distinct cart rut tracks extending for nearly 50 kilometres across Malta and the island of Gozo.
• 228 sites were examined and 155 of them were 3D modelled from drone and ground photography; a further 82 locations known from historical records have since been destroyed or become inaccessible.
• The results date a substantial portion of the rut network to Malta's classical period, encompassing the Phoenician, Punic, Roman and Byzantine eras, rather than to prehistory as fringe researchers claim.
• The ruts are deep parallel grooves incised into limestone bedrock, often intersecting at unusual angles and sometimes passing beneath fields or into the sea.
• The largest concentration lies at the Clappam Junction, which the presenter compares in complexity to a British railway junction.
• The video states that before this study no reliable archaeological evidence could conclusively date any individual pair of cart ruts to ancient or prehistoric times.

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