"Cyprus was one of the world's important mining centers in ancient times, but for reasons still unknown the Romans halted operations there and sealed the tunnels. Many of the tunnels were found and reopened in the 20th century, thanks to clever detective work by an American mining engineer, D. A. Gunther. In the New York Public Library (NYPL), he had happened to find an ancient account of the mines. Years of ingenious search in Cyprus led him to the tunnels, which he found complete with usable support timbers and oil lamps. Cyprus became an important mining center once again."
[In order to save space, the millions of books, pamphlets, magazines, and other items housed in the NYPL Research Libraries are arranged in the stacks not by author, title, or subject, but by height.]
Sources
Isaac Asimov`s Book of Facts
