Humans as agents of geomorphological change: the case of the maltese cart-ruts at Misraħ Għar Il-Kbir, San Ġwann, San Pawl Tat-Tarġa and Imtaħleb

Most people will be familiar with wheel ruts caused by the passage of farm vehicles in the muddy fields of soil-covered farming landscapes. However, significantly fewer will have observed ruts of similar dimensions in solid rock. Such features are an enigmatic part of the Maltese landscape. Archaeologists have understandably focused on such issues as the date, purpose and cultural context of the features. However, to the geomorphologist, their field characteristics as described here at four key sites provide a range of evidence for their mode of formation and indeed their role as indicators of environmental change. An experimental geomorphological approach has established that two-wheeled carts could readily have inadvertently formed the ruts in the local limestones of low to medium mechanical strength. Once created, they are indicative of a very effective means of transporting significant loads around Malta. The cart-ruts are discussed in the contexts of both archaeological history and Holocene environmental chronology, and their formation is put forward as indicative of significant and irreversible landscape change.