The scope of this project – The Significance of Cart-Ruts in Ancient Landscapes - was to document and interpret a number of archaeological sites containing cart-ruts and other features of socio-cultural importance.

This project was led by a consortium of Maltese stakeholders interested in the documentation, preservation, and interpretation of cart-rut sites which included Heritage Malta, The Restoration Unit, the University of Malta and The Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The co-partners included APORTECO of Spain responsible for the management of the cart-rut site at the Caminos de los Molinos in Padul and the University of Urbino .

This one-year project commenced in October 2004 with a total cost of €296,000 out of which 49% was funded by the European Commission.

Two sites, one in Malta and the other in Spain, were under the project’s spotlight. The Maltese site, which covers an area of about 250,000 m², is located at Misraħ Għar 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 Granada, known as Il Camino des los Molinos.  A team of Maltese and Spanish experts documented the cart ruts and surrounding landscape in Malta and correlated the results with those collected from the site in Spain.

This project helped to shed light on man's adaptation to and interaction with the environment. The project also highlighted the central importance of the twinning of research on the one hand and conservation and presentation on the other.