The enigma surrounding the origin of the cart ruts, scattered across the island, may be close to a solution as Heritage Malta yesterday launched a project aimed at documenting and understanding the archaeological sites.
The project, 'The Significance of Cart Ruts in Ancient Landscapes', is the first Culture 2000 project of its kind to be led by a Maltese organisation - Heritage Malta.
Aimed to shed light on the cart ruts, the project involves three principle partners: the National Museum of Archaeology in collaboration with the Restoration Unit; the Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the University of Urbino, Italy; and APROTECO (the association for economic development of the valley of Lecrin, Granada, Spain).
The one-year project will run until September 2005, and will cost s296,000, of which 49 per cent is funded by the European Commission, while the remaining funding will be provided by Heritage Malta, APROTECO and the University of Urbino.
Speaking during the launch of the project at Heritage Malta's head offices in Valletta, Architect Herman Bonnici, of the Restoration Unit, explained that landscapes with cart ruts are known to exist in Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, Italy, Greece and France, but most are located in Malta.
Two sites, one in Malta and the other in Spain, will be under the spotlight for the scope of this project. The local site, which covers an area of about 250,000 m2, is located at Misrah Ghar Il-Kbir in Rabat, known as Clapham Junction.
The site in Spain is smaller than the local one and is located in the village of Padul, near Granda, known as Il Camino des los Molinos.
A team of Maltese and Spanish experts will document the cart ruts and surrounding landscape in Malta and correlate the results with those collected from the site in Spain.
Mr Bonnici explained that the first three months will be dedicated to the formulation of suitable documentation techniques and the collection of data.
In the next four months data collected from the two sites will be studied and interpreted. Workshops will be held in Malta, Italy and Spain during the eighth and ninth months.
The last months will be dedicated to a travelling exhibition hosted by the participating countries.
The studies and findings will then be disseminated to the public on an academic and popular level. A document containing the project's detailed information will be published and a CD containing animation of the sites will be handed out with the intention to create awareness about these sites. Finally a Web page will be launched.
Earlier, Heritage Malta's chairman, Dr Mario Tabone, spoke on the importance of the project, saying it would shed light on man's adaptation to and interaction with the environment.
The project, he said, also highlights the central importance of the twinning of research on the one hand and conservation and presentation on the other.
During his closing speech, Minister of Resources and Infrastructure Ninu Zammit expressed his passion for archaeology and he expressed his encouragement for a successful project.
The ministry, he said, was eager to invest in the rehabilitation and preservation of important archaeological sites.
"It is to this end that I am, therefore, confident that the project being launched today... will provide an important tool to historians and archaeologists interested in the study of this phenomenon. Furthermore, it will contribute to instill greater awareness in these sites," he said.