Cart-ruts in other parts of the world

Abstract

Cart--ruts are not only found in the Maltese Islands but also in other parts of the world such as Spain. The best known are those in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Furthermore, other examples also exist in countries that so far have not been traditionally considered to have cart-ruts, such as Azerbaijan and North America. All these cart--ruts share common characteristics, so that the least common denominator as a singular feature is that each is a pair, having channels that are basically 'U'-, 'V'-, or rectangular in crosssection and make part of a transport system. At the same time they differ in particular variables such as the gauges, the landscape setting and the period in which they are thought to have been created. This brief account on cart-ruts in other parts of the world should serve as an indicator and an eye-opener that the study of cart-ruts should be looked at from a wider angle and one should recognize that cart-ruts are not features that can be confined to just one period, one function and one type. We shall not discuss the nature of the cart-ruts described in this section as we are not in a position to argue about archaeological features that we have not inspected ourselves, except for a couple of sites such as at the Palatine Hill in Rome and Pompeii in Italy; Monte Sirai and Tharros in Sardinia; and Padul in Spain. Our accounts are based on secondary sources, mainly resulting from our literature review. A summary of the sites mentioned in this chapter is found in Appendix IV. This list is far from exhaustive, as probably many other sites exist in the countries mentioned and others that are not yet known to have cart-ruts. However, this list may be updated through further studies.