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In the photo, a bucket with a flashlight inside is slowly lowered down the shaft, illuminating the dark passageway—and the many protrusions hindering the bucket’s path. Why hadn’t the ancients smoothed out the sides of the shaft? And where were the rope marks that should have been present from years of repeated use? These three factors—difficult access, uneven sides and lack of rope marks—convinced Shanks that Warren’s Shaft had never been used as a well.