Origin of the tracks The tracks (known and signposted in Malta as Cart Ruts) can be found in a number of sites on Malta and on Gozo . Busewdien in St Paul's Bay, Naxxar, San Gwann and Bidnija are good examples of cart tracks found on the Island of Malta . Gozo's best Cart Ruts are on the Ta’ Ċenċ plateau, Sannat. The Misraћ Gћar il-Kbir site in Siġġiewi near the Dingli Cliffs in the south of the island is probably the most impressive – they form here a real "traffic jam". Also called cart ruts, they are up to deep and have an average distance between them of . Some cross while others form junctions . This creates the illusion of a great railway station switching yard. 300px|A cart ruts junction at Ghar il-Kbir There are numerous theories about how these tracks were created. The most discussed are the following: Goods were transported here on sledges which gouged the tracks into the rock. The tracks are real cart ruts for transporting goods. It is an irrigation system. There are also other attempts to explain the tracks:- The Maltese archaeologist Anthony Bonanno thinks that the ruts are devices of the Phoenicians, which would mean that the tracks were made more recently, in the 7th century BC. Research published in 2008 suggests that these may have been caused by wooden-wheeled carts eroding soft limestone. An analysis was made of the stresses that would have been caused by a cart which would fit the ruts. Professor Mottershead of Portsmouth University said "The underlying rock in Malta is weak and when it’s wet it loses about 80 per cent of its strength. The carts would have first made tracks in the soil but when that eroded, the cartwheels ran directly on the bedrock, making it easier for other carts to follow the same tracks.<ref ></ref ><ref >Mottershead, Derek; Alastair Pearson & Martin Schaefer "The cart ruts of Malta: an applied geomorphology approach" (Abstract + References) Antiquity Vol 82:318, 2008 pp 1065-1079</ref > 
Origin of the tracks Similar tracks (known and signposted in Malta as Cart Ruts) can be found in a number of sites on both the major islands . Busewdien in St Paul's Bay, Naxxar, San Gwann and Bidnija are good examples on the main Island . Gozo's best are on the Ta’ Ċenċ plateau, Sannat. Those at Misraћ Gћar il-Kbir are up to deep and have an average distance between them of . Some cross while others form junctions , creating the illusion of a great railway station switching yard. 300px|A cart ruts junction at Ghar il-Kbir Research published in 2008 describes them as caused by wooden-wheeled carts eroding soft limestone. An analysis was made of the stresses that would have been caused by a cart which would fit the ruts. Professor Mottershead of Portsmouth University said "The underlying rock in Malta is weak and when it’s wet it loses about 80 per cent of its strength. The carts would have first made tracks in the soil but when that eroded, the cartwheels ran directly on the bedrock, making it easier for other carts to follow the same tracks.<ref ></ref ><ref >Mottershead, Derek; Alastair Pearson & Martin Schaefer "The cart ruts of Malta: an applied geomorphology approach" (Abstract + References) Antiquity Vol 82:318, 2008 pp 1065-1079</ref > Other theories explain them as produced by sledges rather than carts, or as an irrigation system. The Maltese archaeologist Anthony Bonanno thinks that the ruts are devices of the Phoenicians, which would mean that the tracks were made more recently, in the 7th century BC.
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There are numerous theories about how these tracks were created. The most discussed are the following: Goods were transported here on sledges which gouged the tracks into the rock. The tracks are real cart ruts for transporting goods. It is an irrigation system.
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There are also other attempts to explain the tracks:- The Maltese archaeologist Anthony Bonanno thinks that the ruts are devices of the Phoenicians, which would mean that the tracks were made more recently, in the 7th century BC.
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Other theories explain them as produced by sledges rather than carts, or as an irrigation system. The Maltese archaeologist Anthony Bonanno thinks that the ruts are devices of the Phoenicians, which would mean that the tracks were made more recently, in the 7th century BC.