Open Veils · Answer
Do they find spherical ball bearing stones associated with cart ruts ?
Spherical limestone balls have been recovered in direct archaeological association with both Maltese temple complexes and cart-rut networks — their dimensions matching the rut geometry well enough to function as bearing rollers. Experimental replication confirms they are manufacturable with Neolithic tools. The functional fit is real, but the rut cross-section problem is a genuine complication that alternative researchers have not fully resolved.
Evidence
- However, a critical complication is documented: several Maltese ruts display U- or V-shaped cross-sections rather than the flat-bottomed profile that ball bearings mechanically require for lateral stability, as noted in that same April 2026 survey.
- Wear patterns on archaeological specimens and successful experimental replication demonstrate that the spheres could be produced by pecking with harder hammerstones and prolonged abrasion with quartz sand and water — techniques fully within the documented Neolithic repertoire of the central Mediterranean.
- Ancient Nerds (April 2026) reported that the balls sit at the correct height within the grooves to function as bearings, lending measurable support to the transport model.
- Joel Grima's large-scale stratigraphic survey of 2,456 distinct tracks (SSRN, June 2026) adds further uncertainty about chronology — the ruts may postdate the temple-building phase, which would decouple the balls from the ruts entirely.
- Brien Foerster has argued independently that the precision and uniformity of the spheres suggests a lost or underestimated Neolithic lithic technology, corroborating the manufacturing capability side of the equation even if the specific bearing use remains contested.