Clapham Junction Malta guide
Posted on December 3, 2012
by CartRutsMalta
Clapham Junction Malta Cart Ruts (Cart Tracks) – map, location and photograph guides to different sections (East, South, Main) of Malta’s most famous Cart Ruts site.These ancient mostly paired grooves in Malta’s limestone have puzzled the world for centuries. How old are they? Who created them? Why and how were they formed?
Clapham Junction Malta – it’s not just Cart Ruts that are the mystery, there are some mysterious geology features.
Clapham Junction Malta Cart Ruts – what are they?
Clapham Junction Malta is covered with very puzzling and mysterious groove in the rock. They appear to be ancient roadways of some sort. That is the very basic summary of what are the Cart Ruts but they are far more stunning than that and a bigger mystery.When you see them they take your breath away. How could they be formed and what for?
They do not appear to be directly linked to the building of any of Malta’s megaliths, they cross the small island and seem to be found on the higher and rockier surfaces. There can be many of them in the same area, beside each other and criss crossing. Sometimes they are a solitary pair that can go on for miles.
Malta’s and Gozo Cart Ruts can also go over cliff edges from very high headlands, go down or up the steep sides of ridges or plateus that can be a meter or 2 tall, and the tracks can lead into the sea and are even underwater.
No matter what you read or think that the obvious answer is they were made by vehicles by man, when you see the photos and visit them you sometimes think that they could not be man made, not all of them. But they have to be?
There are lots of ideas of what they were for – irrigation, paths or roads, chariot racing, energy or routes for UFO’s etc.
Also who made them? Malta’s Temple Builders? The Romans? The Pheonicians? Aliens?
One of the mysteries and frustrations of Malta’s ancient and magnificent history is that there are no records left of it by those people. No written word or pictorial guide was left by the Temple Builders and Cart Rut users.
The pre history original Maltese were either wiped out by some natural disaster, left the island or were taken away by pirates as has happened to the modern Maltese and Gozo people on a few occasions.
Modern man can only wonder what the megalithic structures and Cart Tracks were built for and used for. The discussion on Malta’s Cart Ruts was recorded in the 17th century and may continue for many centuries more.
The grooves in the limestone are usually in pairs but they differ greatly. Some are very deep and narrow, others are wide and flat. They can be very different in the same location. Were there different uses for each type of track left?
Some are so deep that it seems impossible that any vehicle – sled or wheeled – could be dragged along them as the platform/axle would have to be over 1 or 2 meters high.
The other issue is that – especially on Clapham Junctions main hill top – the Cart Ruts pairs are beside each other and you can count over 10 pairs in row. Why would they need so many beside each other when there appears to be no reason for their use?
If Clapham Junction’s Cart Ruts were made by vehicles of some sort then to wear away the limestone rock would take many journeys with very heavy loads. None of these possible road ways show any sign of wear by human or animals pulling or pushing the vehicles along. None. There should be some slight sign, unless they walked in the track of the wheel or wooden pole that wore away the tracks. This sounds like the only explanation but when you see how narrow some of them are it does not seem possible.
Clapham Junction Malta Cart Ruts – photo guide
The Cart Ruts at Clapham Junction are in a relitively large area that is split into a few section. Below are links to investigations of the various sites, with unique photographs and some geology puzzles.Clapham Junction, Malta – Main site
A tour and photos of the Main (West) field
at Clapham Junction. This is where the highest concentration of these
mostly paired channels are found. Espeically famous for the very pointed
intersections. Also, where you can see the very puzzling geology
feature tht is the Clapham Junction Triangle.Clapham Junction, Malta – East site
A guide and photographs of the East field
at Clapham Junction. If you are actually visiting the Cart Tracks then
be warned that at first you can not see them. Follow this guide to find
and be stunned by them.Clapham Junction, Malta – South site
A guided photographic tour of the South field of Malta’s Clapham Junction Cart Ruts. Includes puzzling limestone geology features.Clapham Junction Cart Ruts geology mystery
There are a number of geology mysteries associated with Cart Ruts site and especially Clapham Junction.
There are a number of triangles made from limestone lines and ridges. Triangles are not one of natures natural shapes, especially when it comes to rocks. How and what are they? How were they formed?
The largest Clapham Junction Triangle is found around a Cart Rut in the most famous area of Clapham Junction, the Cart Track goes through this large triangle. Apart from the groove there appears to be no damage to the limestone rock making the ridge lines of the shape. Also, there seems to be some limestone rock ‘growth’ in one of the ruts, where it should be worn away. How old or new are these geological features?
Around Ghar il-Kbir you can find equilateral triangles, isosceles triangles, crazy shapes, square shapes, Cart Rut ridges. Near the Bingemma Gap or Nadur Tower Cart Ruts you can find what seem to be positive fulgurites and they are stunning to look at and wonder how they wer formed.
Clapham Junction location, directions and map
If you are looking to visit Clapham junction then use this photograph guide and instructions to help you locate it.Clapham Junction (Ghar il-Kbir) is located between Buskett Gardens and Dingli Cliffs, near Mdina (the Silent City).
Clapham Junction Cart Ruts – East field
Clapham Junction Cart Ruts (Cart Tracks) – East field guide to the
starting section of the most famous location for Cart Ruts in Malta.When you first arrive at Clapham Junction and Ghar il-Kbir (Great Cave) there is nothing to see! Just rolling hilltops covered in grey limestone rock, Dingli Radar Dome and Buskett Gardens in the distance.
Clapham Junction Malta Cart Ruts (Cart Tracks) guide
Walk away from the house towards the telephone pole (west).Malta’s natural terracing?
Natural terracing is all over Clapham Junction but especially in lines on the east side (going south to north).If you filled in the depression part and put a wall at the front you would have terracing. Malta has large amounts of terracing yet has never had a big population, maybe they used the natural landscape they found.
Perhaps it is the same for other peoples around the mediterranean and the world?
Left or right
When you reach the telegraph pole you can go right (North field) or left (South field) or if you follow the main pathway to the North that then goes West you will get to the main Cart Ruts at Clapham Junction.To your left is the less visited south field with its own unique Cart Tracks formation, terracing and some very strange limestone geology. It is only 1 minute away, so if you are not rushed for time then it is worth spending 10 minutes looking around. If you do visit it then look at the very grey rocks and try to work out why they are that colour and are like rock outcrops.
Cart Ruts and micro craters?
This Cart Rut is not that long, when you are in the middle of it and
when you look back to the house you get this view then you are close to
the micro-crater.
You will notice with all Cart Ruts that there are no signs around or
amongst the Cart Ruts of any sign of damage or the ground being worn
away. This is especially true when you consider the Clapham Junction Triangle. 
This
possible ancient vehicle road has what looks very much like a micro
crater in its center. How could mysterious geology feature survive if
the tracks were worn away by sleds or wheeled transport moving heavy
loads over multiple journeys?There are many more mini craters found all over the island of Malta. How were they formed? What are they?
Strange Geology – Triangles
As you walk away from the house and towards the phone pole you will see
to your left these unusual lines making up perpendicular lines and a
triangle.
This is not the only rock triangle you will around the site. They can be found in a variety of forms and sizes, including the strange Clapham Junction Triangle.
Also, why is the limestone rock very rough in some places but within a few inches or feet it can be very smooth?
You
Clapham Junction Triangle mystery
Cart Ruts Triangles found at Clapham Junction Malta include the geology mystery of the very puzzling Clapham Junction Triangle.This very large rock triangle is found amongst and beside the Cart Ruts (Cart Tracks) at Clapham Junction Malta (Ghar-Il-Kbir).
Clapham Junction Triangle and Cart Ruts geology mystery
This amazing rock line triangle is found in the middle of the most famous of the areas, the south slope on the rolling hill where lots of Cart Tracks are aligned, intersect and form puzzling sharp “switch points”.
The Clapham Junction Triangle itself has a smaller triangle in one corner and one more attached to it. If the Cart Ruts on the Maltese Islands were made by man how come this Triangle amoungst the largest concentration of Cart Tracks has no visible damage due to wear and tear?
One answer could be they were formed afterwards. There even seems to be limestone ‘growth’ intruding into one of the Cart Ruts tracks that cuts through the Clapham Junction Triangle. Or does that mean the Clapham Junction Triangle was formed after the Cart Ruts of Malta?
The southern end (down the slope) shows where the 2 lines making up this end cross and continue on. There is a Cart Rut that runs through this limestone triangle but a small lump of rock now partially blocks the rut. This puzzling feature likely means either the the Ruts were not made by man, that the rock has grown since the ruts were made or that the Cart Ruts Triangles were formed after the Cart Ruts.
Clapham Junction Malta Cart Ruts and Triangle Map
Clapham Junction Malta – Main field
Clapham
Junction Malta is the most famous and largest collection of Malta’s
Cart Ruts. It can be split into a few sections, which makes it easier to
understand what is where and anything puzzling in each part of the
site. We have split them into the East, South and the main one investigated here is the West site.
There is also two small farm fields in the middle of the site! Just off to the west of the main site is the awesome Ghar il-Kbir (Great Cave). Cart ruts do extend pass the cave and even further west.The main Clapham Junction Cart Ruts are on the side and top of the rolling hill that makes up this part of Ghar il-Kbir (the Maltese name for this area). There a lots of pairs of Cart Tracks all beside each other, like a 12 lane roadway.
Not only are they in a row they also can intersect and curve into each other – creating very sharp and defined V wedge shapes, which are some of the most iconic and puzzling images of Malta’s Cart Ruts.
Clapham Junction Malta – bottom of main field
Malta’s Clapham Junction – top of main field
These as a loading bay with the transportation carts in the loading bay, waiting for rock to transport is very easy to visualise. The problem is where would such a large amount of limestone rock have come from in the local area to wiegh the carts down enough to friction wear away the rilles, to make the Cart Ruts?
Unless the Great Cave (Ghar il-Kbir) was created and dug out by man and moved to the sleds or wheeled vehicles and then moved down the slope? Or the whole area has been landscaped? There is a Cart Rut that goes across the slope and cuts through most of the pairs of tracks on the slope.
Other features
In
this area there are a couple of what are called Punic Tombs or
Phoenician Rock Tombs – a small ‘room’ cut down into the limestone rock
with a narrow entance and a small ledge inside. They are called Punic
Rock Tombs although no bodies or stuff was ever found inside. Could they
have been used for another purpose? Why are they cut into the Cart Ruts
themselves here and in other places? could they be something to do with
the natural energy of the area?In the main site there is also the Clapham Junction Rock Triangle that is very puzzling – why has it not been destroyed especially as the Cart Ruts go through the middle of it? Around Clapham Junction there are other surprising rock line triangles.
And if you observe close enough and are interested in other strange geology features you can find some limestone fault lines or perhaps a version of dykes cutting across these most famous of Malta’s Cart Tracks. How were they formed and why are they found here and near other Cart Ruts
--------------
Cart Ruts Triangles found at Clapham Junction Malta include the geology mystery of the very puzzling Clapham Junction Triangle.
This very large rock triangle is found amongst and beside the Cart Ruts (Cart Tracks) at Clapham Junction Malta (Ghar-Il-Kbir).
Clapham Junction Triangle and Cart Ruts geology mystery
This amazing rock line triangle is found in the middle of the most famous of the areas, the south slope on the rolling hill where lots of Cart Tracks are aligned, intersect and form puzzling sharp “switch points”.
The Clapham Junction Triangle itself has a smaller triangle in one corner and one more attached to it. If the Cart Ruts on the Maltese Islands were made by man how come this Triangle amoungst the largest concentration of Cart Tracks has no visible damage due to wear and tear?
One answer could be they were formed afterwards. There even seems to be limestone ‘growth’ intruding into one of the Cart Ruts tracks that cuts through the Clapham Junction Triangle. Or does that mean the Clapham Junction Triangle was formed after the Cart Ruts of Malta?
The southern end (down the slope) shows where the 2 lines making up this end cross and continue on. There is a Cart Rut that runs through this limestone triangle but a small lump of rock now partially blocks the rut. This puzzling feature likely means either the the Ruts were not made by man, that the rock has grown since the ruts were made or that the Cart Ruts Triangles were formed after the Cart Ruts.
Clapham Junction Malta Cart Ruts and Triangle Map
-----------------
Dwejra Cart Ruts, Gozo
Bidnija Cart Ruts
Ghar Zerriegha Malta cart ruts
Clapham Junction Cart Ruts – East field
Clapham Junction Cart Tracks – site guide to South field
Clapham Junction Malta guide
San Gwann Junction Cart Ruts (Tal-Mensija Cart Tracks)
Wardija Ridge Cart Ruts (Busewdien Cart Tracks)
Naxxar Gap Cart Ruts Malta
Fomm Ir-Rih bay Cart Ruts (il-Pellegrin)
St Georges Bay underwater Malta Cart Ruts
--
Cart
Ruts Malta – the islands of Malta and Gozo are the most famous location
of these mysterious and ancient paired grooves in the rock (also known
as Cart Tracks).
There are more Cart Ruts being discovered in other countries in Europe and America.
The most popular area in Malta for them is Clapham Junction
(Misrah Ghar il-Kbir as it is known by the Maltese) due to the high
number in total, multiple pairs beside each other for some unknown
reason and that they even intersect each other in crazy spaghetti
junctions.What are the Cart Ruts?
What are the Cart Ruts?
These are deep ruts, rilles, tracks, grooves, channels left in Malta’s
limestone but in such numbers, variety and confusion that they leave
more questions than answers.
They are located all over the islands of Malta and Gozo and were even said to have been found on the small island of Fifla!If they were created and used by some form of vehicle then how did they move along some of these when the pairs of ruts are nearly a meter deep?
Why? Cart Ruts mystery
Why do the Cart Ruts on the islands of Malta and Gozo lead straight off high cliffs and isolated headlands?Why are some of them found leading into the sea and on the seabed floor?
Why do the Malta Cart Tracks areas have curious geology like the Clapham Junction Triangle?If these apparant ancient green roads and tracks were man made then for what purpose? Why were the Cart Ruts created?
Where in Malta and the world?
There are also other Cart Ruts locations around the world,
with the internet helping othes be ‘discovered’ or brought to peoples
attention. These can be similarly confusing and chaotic but some of them
seem to have more substantial evidence that they were man made.How were Malta’s Cart Ruts created?
How were Cart Ruts in Malta formed? Were they made by vehicles like wooden sleds or wheeled carts? Are they natural? Were they created for or by aliens/UFO’s? There are no records or mythology left by those who were around when these meandering paired tracks were created.Who made the Cart Ruts?
Who made the Cart Ruts?
Was it the Maltese Temple Builders, Romans, Phoenicians, Malta’s Bronze
Age people or other original Maltese civilisation and people?How old are Malta’s Cart Tracks and those in other countries?
How old are the Maltese Cart Ruts?When were the Cart Tracks started and used? When were other countries Cart Ruts sites developed?
Cart Ruts Malta site
This site investigates the Cart Ruts mysteries and has unique photo guides to the main Maltese Cart Ruts sites, with more being added.Visit the Cart Ruts Blog for a list of all the posts about Malta and Gozo’s Cart Tracks and also those that are found around the rest of the planet.
Cart Ruts mysteries and evidence?
With Maltese Cart Ruts going off high cliff tops, Cart Ruts located on the sea floor, Cart Tracks in mass numbers intersecting each other in total chaos as seen at Clapham Junction and San Gwann Junction.
Even the Ghar Zerriegha site that appears to show defining evidence that the Malta Cart Ruts were man made is perhaps not so 100% conclusive when you consider about what is in the area and if these were formed at the same time or for the same reason.
Photo guides to Malta’s Cart Rut sites
Below are some of the unique photograph guides and investigations to the site on Malta and Gozo. These are the main sites. For a full list of our Malta photo guides click here or for those in other countries click here.Clapham Junction
Clapham Junction Malta
– most famous Cart Ruts site of the island of Malta and the largest number of Cart Tracks.Puzzling geology with perfect natural triangles and Tetris Rocks
Naxxar Gap
Naxxar Gap Cart Ruts
Naxxar Gap Cart Ruts – Cart Tracks curving down the Great Fault escarpment in sweeping curves.If the Cart Ruts went down, how and where did they come up the Great Fault Line?
Ghar Zerriegha
Ghar Zerriegha Cart Tracks – Cart Ruts going off a Cliff? Where did they lead to?Man made evidence with steps in the middle of the Cart Ruts?
I recently found many useful information in your website especially this blog page. Among the lots of comments on your articles. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreen Roads