Although the preparation of plans is an essential part of the work of a field archaeologist or excavator, many University Departments of Archaeology give very little attention to surveying, regarding it as a subject which should either be left to technicians or picked up during work in the field. As a result, some archaeologists do not even realise that their survey techniques are unsatisfactory. Others, driven by the requirements of their work, devise idiosyncratic methods which are inherently liable to inaccuracy and unnecessarily laborious.
The object of this book is to enable archaeologists, even without relevant training, to deal with any problem in surveying. The book is arranged by technique for ease of reference. Thus one part is devoted to Chain Surveying, which has evolved over centuries into the simplest and quickest way of making accurate plans for most types of site; but methods of reconnaissance and of rough survey are also described. Since instrumental work is sometimes necessary, details are given of the construction and use of the Level and of the Theodolite and Tacheometer. Simple but accurate methods – those not requiring a computer – are described for plotting from oblique aerial photographs, and although numerical calculations are seldom needed in archaeological surveys, there are occasions when they can save considerable time and labour, so fully worked examples are given of all relevant calculations, with alternatives according to whether logarithms or an electronic calculator are available.