Linked Archaeological Data Ontology

A node which is part of a triple with a vague edge.

A vague edge which is part of a triple.

actor as a concept

Event as a Concept

In Ton gebrannte Inschrift mit Verweis auf Hersteller(in).

place as a concept

unspecified location information for the sample, e.g. administrative or topographic region or mountains/rivers/lakes/cities nearby

Information containing of time period and geolocation information, thus forming a point in a 4-dimensional spatiotemporal feature space

This class comprises all things in the universe of discourse of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model. It is an abstract concept providing for three general properties: 1. Identification by name or appellation, and in particular by a preferred identifier 2. Classification by type, allowing further refinement of the specific subclass an instance belongs to 3. Attachment of free text for the expression of anything not captured by formal properties With the exception of E59 Primitive Value, all other classes within the CRM are directly or indirectly specialisations of E1 CRM Entity.

This class comprises all persistent physical objects of any size that are purposely created by human activity and have physical boundaries that separate them completely in an objective way from other objects. The class also includes all aggregates of objects made for functional purposes of whatever kind, independent of physical coherence, such as a set of chessmen.

This class comprises all persistent physical items of any size that are purposely created by human activity. This class comprises, besides others, Human-Made objects, such as a sword, and Human-Made features, such as rock art. For example, a “cup and ring” carving on bedrock is regarded as instance of E24 Physical Human-Made Thing. Instances of Human-Made thing may be the result of modifying pre-existing physical things, preserving larger parts or most of the original matter and structure, which poses the question if they are new or even Human-Made, the respective interventions of production made on such original material should be obvious and sufficient to regard that the product has a new, distinct identity and intended function and is human-made. Substantial continuity of the previous matter and structure in the new product can be documented by describing the production process also as an instance of E81 Transformation. Whereas interventions of conservation and repair are not regarded to produce a new Human-Made thing, the results of preparation of natural history specimens that substantially change their natural or original state should be regarded as physical Human-Made things, including the uncovering of petrified biological features from a solid piece of stone. On the other side, scribbling a museum number on a natural object should not be regarded to make it Human-Made. This notwithstanding, parts, sections, segments, or features of a physical Human-Made thing may continue to be non-Human-Made and preserved during the production process, for example natural pearls used as a part of an eardrop.

This class comprises physical features that are purposely created by human activity, such as scratches, artificial caves, artificial water channels, etc. In particular, it includes the information encoding features on mechanical or digital carriers.

This class comprises people, either individually or in groups, who have the potential to perform intentional actions of kinds for which someone may be held responsible. The CRM does not attempt to model the inadvertent actions of such actors. Individual people should be documented as instances of E21 Person, whereas groups should be documented as instances of either E74 Group or its subclass E40 Legal Body.

This class comprises extents in space, in particular on the surface of the earth, in the pure sense of physics: independent from temporal phenomena and matter. The instances of E53 Place are usually determined by reference to the position of “immobile” objects such as buildings, cities, mountains, rivers, or dedicated geodetic marks. A Place can be determined by combining a frame of reference and a location with respect to this frame. It may be identified by one or more instances of E44 Place Appellation. It is sometimes argued that instances of E53 Place are best identified by global coordinates or absolute reference systems. However, relative references are often more relevant in the context of cultural documentation and tend to be more precise. In particular, we are often interested in position in relation to large, mobile objects, such as ships. For example, the Place at which Nelson died is known with reference to a large mobile object – H.M.S Victory. A resolution of this Place in terms of absolute coordinates would require knowledge of the movements of the vessel and the precise time of death, either of which may be revised, and the result would lack historical and cultural relevance. Any object can serve as a frame of reference for E53 Place determination. The model foresees the notion of a "section" of an E19 Physical Object as a valid E53 Place determination.

This class comprises concepts denoted by terms from thesauri and controlled vocabularies used to characterize and classify instances of CRM classes. Instances of E55 Type represent concepts in contrast to instances of E41 Appellation which are used to name instances of CRM classes. E55 Type is the CRM’s interface to domain specific ontologies and thesauri. These can be represented in the CRM as subclasses of E55 Type, forming hierarchies of terms, i.e. instances of E55 Type linked via P127 has broader term (has narrower term). Such hierarchies may be extended with additional properties.

This class comprises actions intentionally carried out by instances of E39 Actor that result in changes of state in the cultural, social, or physical systems documented. This notion includes complex, composite, and long-lasting actions such as the building of a settlement or a war, as well as simple, short-lived actions such as the opening of a door.

This class comprises 4-dimensional point sets (volumes) in physical spacetime (in contrast to mathematical models of it) regardless of their true geometric forms. They may derive their identity from being the extent of a material phenomenon or from being the interpretation of an expression defining an extent in spacetime. Intersections of instances of E92 Spacetime Volume, E53 Place, and E52 Time-Span are also regarded as instances of E92 Spacetime Volume. An instance of E92 Spacetime Volume is either contiguous or composed of a finite number of contiguous subsets. Its boundaries may be fuzzy due to the properties of the phenomena it derives from or due to the limited precision up to which defining expression can be identified with a real extent in spacetime. The duration of existence of an instance of E92 Spacetime Volume is its projection on time.

This class comprises the activity of gaining scientific knowledge about particular states of physical reality through empirical evidence, experiments and measurements. We define observation in the sense of natural sciences, as a kind of human activity: at some place and within some time-span, certain physical things and their behavior and interactions are observed by human sensory impression, and often enhanced by tools and measurement devices. Observed situations or dimensions may pertain to properties confined to a single instance of S15 Observable Entity or pertain to constellations of multiple instances and relations between them, in particular distances between them. The output of the internal processes of measurement devices that do not require additional human interaction are in general regarded as part of the observation and not as additional inference. Primary data from measurement devices are regarded in this model to be results of observation and can be interpreted as propositions believed to be true within the (known) tolerances and degree of reliability of the device. Measurements and witnessing of events are special cases of observations. Observations result in a belief that certain propositions held at a time within the time-span of the observation. In this model, the degree of confidence in the observed properties is regarded to be “true” by default, but could be described differently by adding a property P3 has note to an instance of S4 Observation

Scope note: This class comprises activities of recognizing physical features on some surface, often an instance of TX4 Writing Field, as an arrangement of a series of identifiable glyphs of some known script, deciphered or not, in an order characteristic for a text. For study purposes, the text recognition procedure requires a scientific autoptic examination of the text. An autoptic examination consists of an accurate analysis of the surface and the signs, and prescribes the use of specific tools and procedures for establishing the exact value of each sign on the physical feature. Deterioration of the original medium or “sloppy” writing may render parts of the original text as undecipherable or ambiguous, which may be annotated in the transcript following epigraphic standards; a text recognition typically results in a record of an equivalent sequence of graphemes on another persistent medium in a scholarly established form of representation of the respective graphemes, often called a “transcript”. An instance of TX5 Text Recognition may in particular apply even to a single glyph, typically forming part of an instance of TX5 Text Recognition applying to a larger sequence of glyphs containing the former glyph. The recognition process may be assisted by mechanical means, imaging technology, or a traditional squeeze for incised glyphs. In case the recognition process is solely based on the latter, the observation concerns only the representations on the latter as present to the researcher in some physical form or projection and should unambiguously be documented as such.

In case the recognized text has not been documented in a transcript, text recognition may constitute an implicit part of an overarching reading process, instance of TX14 Reading, which has resulted in other noteworthy propositions related to the content of the recognized text. On the other side, recognition of single glyphs or contracted parts of texts, as they are characteristic for the use of ligatured scripts, may quite well be implicitly supported by the reader’s comprehension of the text and the creator of the transcript may have chosen not to annotate parts that the reader regarded as unambiguous. Since these cases can often hardly be separated from the shape recognition of the glyphs in isolation, documenting such implicit comprehension as a separate process may not be relevant. It is however regarded as good practice to document explicitly the reading process and associated interpretative reasoning for any non-trivial resolution of ambiguity or gaps in the recognized text that has a bearing on the transcript or further completion of the transcript.

Examples: - The autoptic investigation of the South inscription (TX1) on the Arch of Constantine (E22) made by Rodolfo Lanciani between 1893 and 1901.

In First Order Logic: - TX5(x) ⇒ S4(x) - TX5(x) ⇒ E65(x)

This class comprises events by which a digital device runs a software program or a series of computing operations on a digital object as a single task, which is completely determined by its digital input, the software and the generic properties of the device.

This class comprises actions measuring physical properties using a digital device, that are determined by a systematic procedure and creates an instance of D9 Data Object, which is stored on an instance of D13 Digital Information Carrier. In contrast to instances of D10 Software Execution, environmental factors have an intended influence on the outcome of an instance of D11 Digital Measurement Event. Measurement devices may include running distinct software, such as the RAW to JPEG conversion in digital cameras. In this case, the event is regarded as instance of both classes, D10 Software Execution and D11 Digital Measurement Event.

This class comprises software codes,computer programs,procedures, and functions that are used to operate a system of digital objects.

This class comprises identifiable immaterial items that can be represented as sets of bit sequences, such as data sets, e-texts, images, audio or video items, software, etc., and are documented as single units. Any aggregation of instances of D1 Digital Object into a whole treated as single unit is also regarded as an instance of D1 Digital Object. This means that for instance, the content of a DVD, an XML file on it, and an element of this file, are regarded as distinct instances of D1 Digital Object, mutually related by the P106 is composed of (forms part of) property. A D1 Digital Object does not depend on a specific physical carrier, and it can exist on one or more carriers simultaneously.

This class comprises events that result in the creation of instances of D9 Data Object that represent the appearance and/or form of an instance of E18 Physical Thing such as paper documents, statues, buildings, paintings, etc. A particular case is the analogue-to-digital conversion of audiovisual material. This class represents the transition from a material thing to an immaterial representation of it. The characteristic subsequent processing steps on digital objects are regarded as instances of D3 Formal Derivation.

This class comprises events that describe the creation of associations (Annotation Objects) between objects or areas of objects of the Repository, with other objects or regions or persons, places, events. It is the event that creates the Annotation Object.

This class comprises events that result in the creation of a D1 Digital Object from another one following a deterministic algorithm, such that the resulting instance of digital object shares representative properties with the original object. In other words, this class describes the transition from an immaterial object referred to by property L21 used as derivation source (was derivation source for) to another immaterial object referred to by property L22 created derivative (was derivative created by) preserving the representation of some things but in a different form. Characteristic examples are colour corrections, contrast changes and resizing of images.

This class comprises events that happen on physical digital devices following a human activity that intentionally caused its immediate or delayed initiation and results in the creation of a new instance of D1 Digital Object on behalf of the human actor. The input of a D7 Digital Machine Event may be parameter settings and/or data to be processed. Some D7 Digital Machine Events may form part of a wider E65 Creation event. In this case, all machine output of the partial events is regarded as creation of the overall activity.

This class comprises instances of D1 Digital Object that are the direct result of a digital measurement or a formal derivative of it, containing quantitative properties of some physical things or other constellations of matter.

This class comprises the activity of making honest inferences or observations. An honest inference or observation is one in which the E39 Actor carrying out the I1 Argumentation justifies and believes that the I6 Belief Value associated with resulting I2 Belief about the I4 Proposition Set is the correct value at the time that the activity was undertaken and that any I3 Inference Logic or methodology was correctly applied. Only one instance of E39 Actor may carry out an instance of I1 Argumentation, though the E39 Actor may, of course, be an instance of E74 Group.

A discrete spatial phenomenon in a universe of discourse.

Anything spatial (being or having a shape, position or an extent).

Geometry is the root class of the hierarchy.

The instantiable subclasses of Geometry are restricted to 0, 1 and 2-dimensional geometric objects that exist in 2, 3 or 4-dimensional coordinate space (R2, R3 or R4). Geometry values in R2 have points with coordinate values for x and y. Geometry values in R3 have points with coordinate values for x, y and z or for x, y and m. Geometry values in R4 have points with coordinate values for x, y, z and m.

The interpretation of the coordinates is subject to the coordinate reference systems associated to the point. All coordinates within a geometry object should be in the same coordinate reference systems. Each coordinate shall be unambiguously associated to a coordinate reference system either directly or through its containing geometry. The z coordinate of a point is typically, but not necessarily, represents altitude or elevation. The m coordinate represents a measurement.

All Geometry classes described in this specification are defined so that instances of Geometry are topologically closed, i.e. all represented geometries include their boundary as point sets. This does not affect their representation, and open versions of the same classes may be used in other circumstances, such as topological representations.

A Point is a 0-dimensional geometric object and represents a single location in coordinate space. A Point has an x-coordinate value, a y-coordinate value. If called for by the associated Spatial Reference System, it may also have coordinate values for z and m. The boundary of a Point is the empty set.

The class skos:Concept is the class of SKOS concepts.

A SKOS concept can be viewed as an idea or notion; a unit of thought. However, what constitutes a unit of thought is subjective, and this definition is meant to be suggestive, rather than restrictive.

The notion of a SKOS concept is useful when describing the conceptual or intellectual structure of a knowledge organization system, and when referring to specific ideas or meanings established within a KOS.

An instance of digital reading is a digital processing event guided by a set of instructions or parameters which in turn returns a digital output. The digital output will consist in a set of propositions related to the 'read' input which might include things like classifications, identifications, transformations, comparisons and so on. In the context of semantic data processes, such output might consist in semantically encoded knowledge graph statements, the collection of which may be referred to as an I4 Propositional Set, which can be regarded as the 'conclusion' of the digital reading. As such, Digital reading may be regarded as a computational process guided by a parametrized hypothesis resulting in a new propositional dataset for scientific consideration. The propositional information generated by the digital reading process should be considered as provisional knowledge posited under a hypothesis. Typically propositions generated by the digital reading may become the subject of further scholarly research. Instances of this class come to be when a process is initiated to generate new information and finish upon completion of that process or if the process is interrupted and fails to complete.

An instance of classificatory status is the collective ascription of a type to an object by a community. The substance of the classificatory status is the communal commitment to the classification of the object in question according to the designated type. Instances of classificatory status are recognizable through evidence of community members adopting the intentional stance of so-classifying the object in question, as observable from direct witnesses, through the reports of competent observers or through evidence of a declarative act [e.g.: E17 Type Assignment] initiating this status. Instances of classificatory status may come to be through a formal process such as a declarative act of classification [E17 Type Assignment], or may have arisen through habit, fiat or be of unknown origin. Instances of classificatory status may end either though a formal process, such as a new declarative act of classification, be officially declassified, or may simply fade out of use, be eliminated by fiat or be of unknown reason.

Places are instances of skos:Concept as well as contexts for Locations and Names.