Start of week 2

After spending Monday on KP duty, it's was back out to work for me today. Not to dig, but to help with the total station.
A total station is a pretty awesome tool to use. There are two components, the actual machine itself  (picture 1) and the prism (picture 2).

 The total station is so called because of its ability to map and record several things at once. It records the latitude and longitude of where it is shooting (a laser is shot towards the prism which is on an extendable pole), height of the object, and distance from a fixed point (where the station is set up). When all the points are taken, the information is then downloaded from the machine onto a computer program. On that, you can make a topographic map of the area. It's is really useful for archaeologists because this helps to create the best possible map of the site. Knowing the rises and low points within a site might lead to knowing where features may be located.

Close up of the total station machine.