If you are digging a test pit and recording the elevation of your stratigraphic layers on a sketchpad, you are destroying the spatial integrity of the site. A site director cannot reconstruct the three-dimensional volume of a trench if the NE and SW corner heights aren't mathematically tied to an absolute datum point. When an optical "Dumpy" level is in use, the telemetry must be captured in a rigid, quadrant-based format. This Memento system operates as a digital transit log, forcing surveyors to map every corner of an excavation before moving to the next soil context.
Locking the Datum
The entire topographical survey is useless if the baseline is corrupted. The first point of failure in field surveying is forgetting to log the instrument's initial calibration.
This database forces the user to establish the "Height of Dumpy" immediately, tethering it to a specific "Datum No./Name". It goes a step further by requiring a secondary verification: the "Back Site No./Name" and the precise "Back Site Height". By locking down these primary spatial anchors alongside the specific "Tesp Pit No.", every subsequent measurement taken inside the trench is mathematically grounded to a known, real-world elevation point.
The Quadrant Matrix
You cannot measure a trench with a single central depth reading; the earth is never perfectly flat. The template breaks the excavation down into strict cardinal quadrants.
Starting at the "Surface", the surveyor is forced to log individual numeric values for "NE Surface", "SE Surface", "SW Surface", and "NW Surface". This creates a perfect initial plane. As the excavation descends, the system repeats this exact matrix across four distinct stratigraphic layers: "Context 1" through "Context 4". By capturing all four corners of each soil layer, researchers can accurately calculate the slope, volume, and exact sedimentary tilt of the cultural deposits long after the site is backfilled.
The Final Base Plot
The excavation process concludes with the "Base" module. Just as the surface was recorded, the final depth is mapped across the four cardinal corners.
Crucially, the template introduces a final "Centre" measurement field at the bottom of the form. This central point, combined with the four base corners, allows for a highly accurate 3D mesh model to be generated by mapping software later. It is a no-nonsense, entirely numeric logging system that ensures an archaeologist's field math remains flawless from the surface down to the sterile soil.