The mystery of the cart-ruts or “wagon ruts” is unexplained, weird, and wonderful for researchers and scientists. As the name suggests, the cart-ruts give the impression of ancient cart tracks that might have passed over in the same place. Various dating shows that cart-ruts might have occurred more than 10,000 years ago, several thousand years before the wheel and the recorded invention of any known vehicle. The cart-ruts could be found in several geographic locations that stretch from Azerbaijan, Malta, Italy, the Canary Islands, and the Azores Islands. In Malta the cart-ruts formations continue for hundreds of meters into the sea. In the Azores Islands, the cart-ruts could be located close to a volcano and next to a forest far from civilization, almost in the middle of nowhere. Although at first glance they may not look like much, this is one of the greatest enigmas related to our past.
The presence of cart-ruts on the Azores is an unexpected example of the presence of humans and civilizations before the first Europeans settled on the Azores Islands. The Portuguese cart-ruts are pre-Christian, as are those on Malta. As there is no written record of the construction of the cart-ruts prior to the modern-times “official” discovery (rediscovery?) of the Azores, it is assumed that these construction might reinforce the theory of the human presence in the islands before Portuguese settlement during the 15th century.
This prominent set of cart-ruts located in the Terceira Island of the Azores, Portugal, (also commonly locally referred to as ‘Strada’s Real’) run over the top of the mountain range of Serra d’ Estrela in the Bieras region. The cart-ruts are present in the same area as the Piodao Spiral, spiral carvings on a stone over a meter long which appear to be still attached to the bedrock. The Bieras region also offers prehistoric carvings and discoveries of stone phalli and axe-heads suggests that the area may have had a special significance in the prehistoric past. The Azorean cart-ruts present in the Bieras region are often referred to as the “Passage of the Beasts”. They run up and over the top of a mountain called ‘Vale D’Egua’ at an elevation of approximately 800m from sea-level. They appear as located in the middle of nowhere although it is possible to follow them in different directions even not well defined. The terrain at the top of the mountain is rugged enough to make difficult the passing of any wheeled vehicle. And, as previously indicated, the Bieras region also offers prehistoric carvings with examples of rock-art or “arte-rupestre” including one of a cross on a spherical symbol which appears to relate to a classic example of the Christianization, pagan ritual, or worship sites. The frequency and symbolic nature of the engravings suggests the site might have once been used for a ritual purpose, an idea which is increased by the discovery of a gigantic spiral in the valley below.
Unlike other cart ruts found in other locations throughout the world and using a geological and historical approach, the Azorean cart-ruts engraved on volcanic stone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean raise many questions: How old are they? Who created them? Are the Azorean cart-ruts pre-Portuguese? Finally, what are the existing explanations of the cart-ruts on Terceira Island?
