RECORDING IN THE FIELD
[Sidenote: Need of record.]
After finding things the first consideration is to record and preserve
all the information about them. The most ignorant dealer or plunderer
may be a very successful digger, but he will not care for the value of
a record. Recording is the absolute dividing line between plundering
and scientific work, between a dealer and a scholar. The most
blue-blooded _dilettante_ collector who digs to possess fine things,
but records no facts about them, is below the level of the dealer who
will publish an illustrated priced catalogue, and state what was found
together, and the details of the discovery. The unpardonable crime
in archaeology is destroying evidence which can never be recovered;
and every discovery does destroy evidence unless it is intelligently
recorded. Our museums are ghastly charnel-houses of murdered evidence;
the dry bones of objects are there, bare of all the facts of grouping,
locality, and dating which would give them historical life and value.
And it is only the self-evident facts of age that we already know,
which can be observed in such a useless condition. So ignorant are
curators that they will even divide up a tomb-group of objects, which
are the keys to knowledge, and foolishly scatter them up and down the
galleries merely as second-rate specimens of what is already there,
without any date or history. This is actually the case in the three
largest national museums. It is therefore imperative not only to
record, but also to publish, the facts observed; so that when in future
the elements of scientific management may come to be understood, a fit
curator may succeed in reuniting the long-severed information, as is
being to some extent happily done at Dublin.
In recording, the first difficulty is to know what to record. To state
every fact about everything found would be useless, as no one could
wade through the mass of statements. It would be like a detective who
would photograph and measure every man on London Bridge to search for
a criminal: the complication would entirely defeat the object. It is
absolutely necessary to know how much is already known before setting
about recording more. In some periods, such as the XVIIIth Dynasty, so
much is ascertained that it is seldom that new facts can be brought to
light; and only fine or unusual discoveries are worth full publication.
On the other hand, in such an age as the early dynasties our only
resource lies in complete records of the levels or collocations of
hundreds of pots, whole or broken; and most important historical
conclusions may hang on a single potsherd.
[Sidenote: Value of record.]
It is plain therefore that the accuracy and certainty of the record
is necessary. At the moment that a fact is before the eye,--a fact
which may never be seen again, and perhaps never paralleled,--it is
needful for the observer to make certain of all the details, to verify
every point which is of fresh value, and to record all that is new
with certainty and exactitude. Statements with a query, or a doubt
about them, are worth nothing in themselves, and can only serve to
add to the range of similar facts that may be safely recorded from
elsewhere. Everything seen should be mentally grasped, and its meaning
and bearings comprehended at the moment of discovery, so clearly that
a definitive statement can be made, which shall be as certain and as
absolute as anything can be which depends on human senses. The observer
should at least feel no possible doubts or qualms about his recorded
facts; and what uncertainties there are should only be those which
lie beyond his perceptions. It is well to work slowly over all the
petty details of an important discovery, perhaps for half an hour,
while considering all the facts and their meaning, before finally and
irrevocably removing the main evidences of position. All this needs
practice, and a full knowledge of what is important and what is trivial.
[Sidenote: Resulting view.]
And not only should such a record be made at the time, but the record
should be presented finally in an intelligible form. To empty the
contents of note-books on a reader’s head is not publishing. A mass
of statements which have no point, and do not appear to lead to any
conclusion or generalisation, cannot be regarded as an efficient
publication. The meaning of each fact should be made apparent, and
the relative importance of the details should be kept in view, so
as to present the conclusions as a picture, in which each touch is
in its proper place, and where each point adds to the whole without
being disproportionately treated. Thus the final result is a statement
much like what might have been written by a contemporary of the times
in question; proved and enforced at each point by the various facts
discovered.
In many cases our materials are not enough to give such a picture; and
then, either the blanks must be noted and the limits of uncertainty
stated, or else, at the worst, the facts must be grouped, and their
results stated, leaving the question with two or more solutions open to
future settlement.
Thus the final result to be aimed at is a picture full of detail and
accuracy; and, where material is insufficient, with the limits of doubt
clearly laid down, so that fresh material can at once be incorporated,
and its value seen and grasped, so soon as it may be discovered.
[Sidenote: Marking.]
A very needful part of the recording is the marking of the objects
with their source. Generally each part of a site is distinguished by
a letter, and each group of objects found in that part by a number;
thus a cemetery may be E, another adjoining it on different ground
F, yet another G, a temple site T, and so on, sometimes using up the
whole alphabet on a varied district. Then E 17, F 8, G 65, will be
different tombs in those cemeteries, as denoted in the note-book and
on the objects. Every bone of a skeleton should be marked, and always
on one fixed position for each bone. It is best to trust to writing
the reference with China ink on the base or back of most objects; for
pottery and coarse things Brunswick black thinned with turpentine is
best; for dark stones scratching the number is safest, and also for wet
pottery at the time it is found. Jewellers’ tag-labels with strings are
useful for small objects. It is very unsafe to trust labelling only
to the wrapping papers, which may be all thrown away; separate labels
should be wrapped with the things if they cannot be marked otherwise.
[Sidenote: Nature of notes.]
The nature of the notes must vary with each kind of material and each
period; but we may here give some examples of the nature of such
records.
_Town Plan._--Survey of every wall of each house; thickness of each
wall (easily neglected); reveals of doorways; doorsills if of stone;
sizes of bricks; levels of top and base of each wall if any rebuilt or
superimposed; contents of each chamber, note if on floor or in filling;
objects buried in floors; special note of position of exactly dated
objects; copies of any frescoes or decoration.
_Tomb._--Position relative to other tombs. Size of pit, direction,
depth. Position of chamber. Filling intact, or estimate of time that it
has stood open anciently by the weathering of the sides. Objects found
loose in filling. Chamber plan. Primary or secondary burial. Position
of body, head direction, face direction, attitude of body and limbs.
Position of beads and small objects on body. Note if beads follow any
pattern or order; record order of as long groups of beads as possible
for rethreading; wrappings, amount and nature. Coffin or cartonnage;
inscription and figures, if any, often need copying or photographing
before removal, as they may fall to pieces. Skull and jaw to be
removed for measurement; or, if in rarer periods, whole skeleton to be
preserved. Position and nature of all offerings and objects placed in
the tomb. Copies of any inscriptions or paintings on the walls of the
tomb.
To such outlines of the usual character of records are added any
special details which are but rarely found; but the above will serve to
remind an excavator of what must always be looked for.
[Sidenote: Planning.]
In making a plan of any large area, such as a town, it is best to
start with a rough key-plan divided into a few dozen squares, each row
of squares lettered, each column of squares numbered, so that every
square is designated, as B 5, etc. (Fig. 32). Then the detailed plan
of each square is to be made on one opening of a note-book of squared
paper, the openings running A 1, A 2, A 3; B 1, B 2, B 3, etc. Thus any
connection from one page to another can be found at once by looking for
the next letter or number: the whole plan is in the pocket, and can
be added to, chamber by chamber, as the clearing progresses. It need
hardly be said that every plan or detail should be drawn north upwards
in the note-book. Main lines are of course to be connected together by
long lines of measurement.
As a general principle it is best to measure positions of as many
points as possible along one single line of measurement, rather than
take many piecemeal short distances and add them together. Thus (Fig.
29) a series of walls should be stated as, 66, 76, 201, 220, 257,
269, 330, 353, 434, 446 inches, rather than as lengths of 66, 10, 25,
19, 37, 12, 61, 23, 81, and 12 inches; for the total is more accurate
when measured all in one, the positions are plotted quicker, and the
comparison with any symmetric lengths of the building are easier made
on the spot, so as to detect errors.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.--Example of a plan measured entirely from two
bounding lines.]
In the direct measurement of groups of walls, etc., it is the quicker
and more accurate method to adopt two outside sighting lines, say one
along the north, the other along the east, of the ground, marked out by
high walls or large stones always visible, and then measure every point
out to the two sighting lines at right angles. Spaces of over 100 feet
across can be divided into separate groups.
The general use of instruments cannot be entered upon here. But amongst
the means of work the divided rod is indispensable, and it is all that
is wanted for most small buildings that are met with. The tape is the
most practical for distances of 10 to 50 feet; and the steel tape for
accurate measuring of base lines, or long distances. The box-sextant
is for very broken ground, and isolated details, or if working alone;
and the theodolite for accurate work anywhere between the accuracy of,
say, 1 inch on 500 feet and the refinement of a ¼ of an inch on a mile.
The plane table may be convenient for approximate plans, and is simple
and rapid to use. The prismatic compass is of use for the directions of
single blocks or fragments of wall, and is handy for rough topography
(generally with paced distances), or for underground passages.
In considering the accuracy required, if dimensions in figures are to
be given, then minute measurement is wanted, somewhat more accurate
than the original workmanship. But where only a plan is to be produced,
it is seldom practicable to show more accuracy than 1/100th inch on a
book page 10 inches high, or 1/1000th of the whole, and therefore it is
of no use to measure closer than 1 inch on a space of 200 feet or so
across.
[Sidenote: Plotting.]
It need hardly be said that the barbarous irregular fractions, such as
⅜ of an inch to a foot or to a mile, should never be used for plotting.
Simple decimal scales should alone be used, and generally 1/100th is
the most suitable and easy for all plans of ordinary buildings, towns,
etc.; this is further reduced by photolithography to whatever scale
will best fit the size of publication.
[Illustration: FIG. 30.--Method of plotting a three-point survey,
_n_, _w_, _s_, the three fixed points. A the point to be found. B, C,
centres of struck circles.]
Though the ordinary methods of survey need not be stated here, the
box-sextant is so seldom seen that some account should be given of
its use. The objection to its use on short distances, that parallax
between the direct and reflected ray causes errors, can be avoided by
overlapping the images about ¾ inch, the usual amount of the parallax.
The main use of the sextant is for three-point survey. Over broken
ground where many isolated points have to be fixed, within a few inches
on a few hundred feet, there is no method so quick and useful as the
nautical three-point method, when improved by rigid plotting. At any
three points which shall be visible from the whole of the ground, and
within its general plane, three signals are placed, best lettered by
the quarter of the horizon nearest to each, say _n_, _s_, _w_. The
three points must be so placed that the one circle passing through them
all shall not pass through points needed in the survey; otherwise
they may be in any position, though best as a triangle of about equal
sides. The three angles and one side are to be measured, thus defining
the whole triangle. Then at any point to be fixed, A, the two angles
between _n_ to _s_ and _w_ to _s_ are measured with the sextant, and
these suffice to fix the position. For plotting (Fig. 30), lay down the
triangle of the three fixed points, say to scale 1/100th (the triangle
with shaded corners _n_, _s_, _w_), and the perpendiculars to each side
of it; this is most accurately done by a large protractor with vernier,
setting out the radii and perpendiculars of the triangle from its
centre. Then tabulate the half of each base × cotan. angles observed on
that base, _e.g._
logs. n.n. logs. n.n. logs. n.n.
½ bases _n_ ·27314 _s_ ·36621 _w_ ·29223 _n_
------ ------ ------
x cotan. { 1 ·43223 2·705 ·26272 1·831
angles at { 2 ·56671 3·687 ·48214 3·035
places 1, 2, 3 { 3 ·41995 2·630 ·67709 4·754
Here the log. half base _n_ to _s_ is ·27314; this added to log. cotan.
of angle subtended by _n_-_s_ from station 1 is log. ·43223, giving
a value 2·705 inches. From station 1 the angle _s_-_w_ was observed;
and from stations 2 and 3 the angle _w_-_n_ was observed. All this
calculation can be rapidly done in this form, placing the sheet upon
the log. book, with the written log. half base next below the printed
log. cotan. angle, and writing down the sum of the two against the
number of the station. Then on the plan, plot these (½ base × cotan.)
on the perpendiculars of their respective bases as at B and C, marking
the station number to each. Then with compasses sweep an arc from one
centre B, with radius Bs equal to the distance from the centre to its
two points of the triangle. The same from the other centre C that has
the same number of station. The intersection of the arcs is the point A
of that station on the plan.
Of course the prolonged perpendiculars (broken lines) are used as
often as the direct perpendiculars; the _aspect_ of the angle from
the station, whether _n_-_s_ or _s_-_n_ showing on which half of the
perpendicular we should lay off the centre. For angles over 90° the
complement of the angle should be used in calculation, the centre
then laid off on the wrong half of the perpendicular, and the arc
swept across the right half. This mode of plotting gives the fullest
accuracy, such as is never possible with the use of station-pointers,
or trial and error devices which are used in nautical survey. A field
of 40 stations can be easily calculated in an hour, and plotted in a
couple of hours more. If it is needful to work any point with pure
calculation instead of plotting, it can be accurately done by the
principle that the line joining the two centres of arcs, B and C, forms
with their common point s an equal and opposite triangle to that which
they form with the survey point A. It will be seen on looking at the
diagram that _w_-_s_, the angle by which B is plotted, is equal to the
angle _w_-_s_ from A; and similarly the angle of the half base _n_-_s_
from C, is equal to _n_-_s_ from A. Hence the points _n_, _s_, _w_
subtend from A, the observed angles, and A is the point from which they
must have been observed.
For levelling, the handiest instrument is a short rigid pendulum, with
mirror attached, to hang truly vertical. The reflection of the eye
back to itself is then a truly horizontal line, and can be sighted
on to any distance. The pendulum is best made about 5 inches long,
with tetrahedral net of suspension thread, to avoid twisting, passing
through two eyes on the mirror and two eyes on the holder, and a
covering tube to shield it from wind. With this, readings can easily be
taken to an inch on 100 feet, and this is sufficient accuracy for most
archaeological work.