In addition to facing east, the stone must be set plumb (straight up and down). One of the reasons we are resetting the stones is that most are leaning. This puts stress on the rock and can cause it to break. A student is using a level to make sure the stone is plumb.

After the direction and plumb is set, the hole must be backfilled. The dirt must be tamped down very hard. If it is loose or has too much air in it, it will fill with water and the freezing and thawing will crack the stone. If the dirt is loose under the stone, it will sink, as most of them had when we excavated them.

The dirt also needs to be built up and sloped away from the stone so that it drains water away from the marker.