PICTURE GALLERY
Picture: José Martínez Hernández	Picture José Martínez Hernández	Picture: José Martínez Hernández

Stone carved handle	Different levels of exploitation in the interior of one of the mines of lapis specularis "La Condenada" in Osa de la Vega (Cuenca)	Wall gallery
For the difficult passages and to permit access to the diferent levels, the roman miners carved ring shaped fasteners in the stone, to wich ropes were fastened allowing for a safe descend to the different levels of the mine.	The Mine area often includes several levels as a consecuence of the search of mineral sources. In some cases, mines have as many as five levels down.	Principal gallery of HPC-5 mine. The traces of the mining tools are vissible along the walls. The tunneling execution is perfect, providing evidence of the specialized and skillfull work of the labourers.
Picture: José Martínez Hernández	Picture: José Martínez Hernández	Picture: José Martínez Hernández

Main room of "la Mora Encantada" mine - (TR-1), Torrejoncillo del Rey (Cuenca)	Exploitation well	Counter-well in the interior of one of the lapis specularis mines
The basic model of roman lapis specularis mining exploitation was the use of great halls and columns, a traditional minery system in ancient times using large halls as a distribution element from wich galeries run in all directions. The hall works as a central point to wich all the mineral converges, and were all the network of galleries and wells is organized, acting therefore as a wide space were all services and logistics necessary for the labour in the interior are concentrated.	. Lapis specularis mining wells usually have a square or rectangular shape, and can reach, as Pliny the Elder stated, very deep ranges, conecting various levels. Their function was multiple, serving both for the extraction of mineral (with a winch), and as access to the mine space, for bringing some natural ligh into the mine, and as orientation and reference for the miners working in the interior.	Counter-wells were a very frequent method for making the extraction more feasible, also providing the possibility of digging much deeper with less effort.
Picture: José Martínez Hernández	Picture: José Martínez Hernández	Picture: José Martínez Hernández

Flooded gallery	Entrance to one of the lapis specularis roman mines	Steps carved in the stone
One of the main technical problems of the mining process was the inflow of great quantities of rain and condensation water, as well as its presence as the water table was reached.	Some of the original entrances to the mines have survived to two thousand years of abandonment and to the systematic sealings that the local farmers have tried to put on them. Sometimes only one of the surviving wells (like the one in the image) allows us to discover a reality of kilometers of internal galleries.	Roman miners carved steps in the rock to link the different levels, in order to make going up and down easier.
Picture: José Martínez Hernández	Picture: José Martínez Hernández	Picture: José Martínez Hernández

Exterior of one of the lapis specularis minery exploitations	Clogged gallery	Oil lamp rests in a lapis specularis mine gallery
The old minery works have created a singular landscape which affects the Alcarria and La Mancha regions in Cuenca, creating a peculiar geographic area as consecuence of the extraction works in Roman times.	The accumulation of waist materials in the galleries already exploited by the miners, aside of the natural clogging that has occurred from roman times up to the present time, make it difficult and hard to explore the mines.	Roman gallery iluminated by two oil lamps put there by us to experiment their lighting capacity. The oil lamp rests, in wich the oil lamps sit, are normally found in a high possition in the galleries, so that the lamps flames would provide good lighting.
Picture: Cien mil pasos alrededor de Segóbriga	Picture: Cien mil pasos alrededor de Segóbriga	Picture: Manuel Arlandi Rodríguez

Interior of a surface sealed well	Whetstone of sandstone (Osa de la Vega-OV3 Cuenca).	Pick-mark revealing the extraction methods of a plate of lapis specularis ("La Quebrada" mine at “Valparaíso de Abajo” - CP.VA1 Cuenca).
Wells usually coincide with more or less wide halls from wich the network of galleries run in different directions in search of the ore. In contrast with the surface organization, the inside imposes an order ruled by the geologic reality of the underground and by the search of the mineral through prospection and underground work.	Tools were sharpened with sandstone which, as Livy states, was itself sharpened by means of water and oil. Oil provided a smooth edge, while water made it steely. Sandstones with working traces are frequently found in mining areas, as they were used as chisel and pick sharpeners and also for cutting tools such as the handsaw used to cut lapis specularis in plates	The mark in the gypsum shows the sharp and quadrangular section nature of the pick-head