Practical experience suggests that the process of locating an optimal luni-solar calendrical observing position could be a lengthy one, probably taking several years. It therefore seems likely that a number of temporary place-markers would be required. These might fall into two classes: Near the monument would be markers used to help optimise the final position but further away there might be others, marking rejected options or wider parameters used before the final location was selected.
Obvious candidates for markers would be stakes and pits. Small cairns might also do but would be unlikely to survive. Nearby shelter could perhaps also be expected for those waiting half the night to make a two minute lunar observation.
Excavations to date have tended to concentrate on the ground within or close to the monuments so there is at this time no evidence for or against the existence of more distant markers. An additional difficulty is that many features in the ground around monuments have been destroyed by cultivation. In spite of this, some probable setting-up markers have been found though not previously recognised as such.
Stakeholes and pits occur at a number of sites but even more interesting is the discovery of "furrows" or shallow trenches. These would clearly work well as setting out aids as they provide lasting baselines for measuring lateral movement and individual observations could be marked by setting a boulder in the furrow or a stake in the upcast.