Abstract: Hundreds of ‘cart ruts’ – pairs of incised parallel grooves in the bedrock – are found across the Maltese Archipelago in the central Mediterranean. The age, functional association, formation processes, and taphonomic alteration of these ruts, which occur here with a globally unrivalled frequency, has been much debated. Generally seen as being created by erosion from vehicles such as wheeled carts, or alternatively being cut into the rock to facilitate movement of such vehicles, specific models range from the use of carts to move soil in...
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