3.  Recording.

Buildings or ruins.  Fix position by bearings to mapped points; also note bearings of any prominent feature near by, which may serve for finding the position again.  Sketch a plan, always north up in the book, note bearing of main wall, and then measure with bamboo rod all original dimensions, with some diagonals to fix angles; do not forget the thickness of the walls.  It is best for a long length to stretch a tape, pegged down by the ring, and pulled tight by hand:  read off all positions of doors, windows, cross-walls, &c., on one long length, and not as separate short lengths.  If possible plot the measures on squared paper as you go, and then any errors or omissions will be checked at once.  ’E. and O.E.’ has no place in a plan.

Town mounds.  Estimate height over bare land outside; eye height is a trifle over five feet.  At the foot of the mound see where the horizon cuts the shoulder of it to find eye height; walk up to that point, and sight another five feet; so on, till you see over the top.  If there is any section, by a stream side, or digging, or land-slip, look for strata, stone or brick walls and floor levels, and for any distinctive potsherds; observing levels as before.  Look all over the top for potsherds, to find the latest period of the town.  Look around the mound for any early potsherds.  Sherds on the slopes are worth less; as they have probably slipped down.  Red burnt brick in Egypt is all Roman or Arab; in Greece and Asia Minor, red brick and mortar is Roman, Byzantine, or later.

Walk to the middle of the site or mound, and see its extent.  Then walk round the wall line, or circuit of it, pacing and compass noting, to sketch the shape and size of the site:  especially look for any straight lines of wall showing.  Sometimes a mud-brick wall may be entirely denuded away, yet the position is shown by the sharp edge of the strew of potsherds on the surface.

Look for any slag-heaps; these are the remains of lime burning, and show where stone buildings existed; sometimes foundations still remain.  Look for any recent pits or trenches; these show where stone or burnt brick has been dug out in modern times, and may give the position and plan of a temple or church.

See if any rubbish mounds can be traced outside of the town site; usually marked by a gentle walk-up slope, and a steep thrown-down slope, and mainly consisting of pottery, e.g.  Monte Testaccio at Rome, and mounds east of Cairo.

Town sites rise in Egypt about forty inches a century, by the dust, rubbish, and decay of mud-brick buildings.  In Palestine the rise is five feet a century, owing to the rains.