Truly one of the great mysteries of ancient times are the remarkable parallel trenches that are cut into rock surfaces on the islands of Malta, and nearby Gozo which are somewhat disparagingly refereed to as "cart ruts". Archaeologists have absolutely no idea what they are and the function which they performed. How they were made, nor how old they are. The general mainstream consensus being that they were created circa 2000 BC by Neolithic farmers who arrived from Sicily. However, there is no proof of this, and the evidence contradicts this theory completely. They could be far, far older.
Maltese mythology tells of a race of giants which lived on the islands before farmers arrived from Sicily in neolithic times. It is also worth noting that the Maltese folk history of these giants and how they were defeated by humans - using human 'ingenuity' - is shared with several other western European cultures.
It is the same race of ancient 'giants' who were credited with creating not only these impressive and mysterious tracks, but also all of the megalithic structures of Malta and Gozo. In fact, this was commonly accepted until the mid 19th century as the only possible explanation for the scale and distribution of these structures.
The trenches are up to 60cm deep, with the distance between the tracks of 110cm to 140cm apart. At some locations the tracks criss-cross one another to form something akin to a complicated railroad junction. The mainstream theory on their creation is that the wheels of carts carrying heavy goods had worn these groves into the bare rock. However, no scientific testing has been undertaken, using a recreation of this process, in order to determine just how many years of wooden wheeled vehicles travelling along the same course would be needed to wear the rock down to a depth of 60cm.
Even more mysterious is there is no trace of animals such as horses or oxen having pulled these alleged carts. The rock between the tracks is unworn other than by natural forces as if these carts were pulled along by flying creatures! If that was not enough, they often terminate at the edge of cliffs above the sea.
Therefore, ostensibly speaking, mainstream scientific 'explanation' for how these 'cart ruts' were formed; was that wooden carts hauling hundreds of tons of rock each were pulled by birds, apparently back and forth over the same precise paths for hundreds of years just so the birds could pull the wagons and their loads into the Mediterranean. Yet, this remains the official narrative as absurd as it sounds.
Calling them 'cart ruts' is only to entrench the idea in people's consciousness that this is what they were. They could have been anything other than parallel groves created by the wear of wooden wheels over time, especially considering that some of them take sharp turns at various locations and the width of trenches remain the same. A manoeuvre which solid wheeled carts can not perform unless the axle is pivoted. Something that was not invented for thousands of years after their alleged creation date.
If it came to a bet I would still put my money on giants having created them until the scientists and archaeologists can come up with something more prosaic to explain their creation. They also deserve a title other than 'cart ruts'.
4 comments:
the grooves could've been carved beforehand for use by vehicles?
It is a fact that the locals associated these ruts with eternal lamps which burned well into our era before at last burning out. It would follow they carried a form of energy not known to us now.
It is a fact that the locals associated these ruts with eternal lamps which burned well into our era before at last burning out. It would follow they carried a form of energy not known to us now.
Loovely post
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