The document summarizes the work done by the ARIADNE project to develop extensions to the CIDOC CRM ontology to better support archaeological data and research. It analyzed various archaeological data sets and extended existing concepts to integrate evidence from different sources. The extensions add concepts for excavation processes, stratigraphy, physical features, and observation and measurement. The goal is to enable deeper integration and connection of scientific and cultural-historical evidence to support archaeological research.

1. ARIADNE is funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme
Tayloring The CRM
to Archaeological Requirements
Martin Doerr
Center for Cultural Informatics
Institute of Computer Science
Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas

2. Phases of the scholarly process:
– collecting and organizing evidence (observation and primary sources)
– connecting facts via involved items
– interpreting facts – contextualizing and hypothesis building
– presenting results - publication
Problem: Billions of facts, artefacts and documents possibly shed light on the
past in unexpected contexts across all disciplines and sciences
A research infrastructure must primarily:
– enable homogeneous access to all known facts
– allow for restricting search (querying) to facts likely to contribute to
context and/or hypothesis
– trace provenance of knowledge (dependency, reliability, precision)
– allow for correcting/ refining facts in a scientific discourse
The Scholarly Process
2

3. The Scholarly Process in a Digital World
discover
collect
aggregate
update
Search,
correlate,
integrate
Refer
interpret
present
Layer of
“Latest stage of
Knowledge”
“Evidence layer”
Things
Sources
Collections
Corpora
Publications
Stories
exhibitions
Ethiopia
Johanson's
Expedition
Hadar
Discovery
of Lucy
Lucy
Cleveland Museum
of Natural History
Donald Johanson
AL 288-1
3
ResearchInfrastructure

4. A Global Ontology
– allows for integrating and connecting evidential data and derived facts
– the CIDOC CRM is a good starting point
The CIDOC CRM (ISO21127)
– is about people and things meeting in space-time, parts and wholes,
use, influence and reference.
– It is not specific about circumstances of observation, find and
measurement, states of matter and geometry.
– It has no notion of input-output or derivation, only of “influence”
Therefore we have organized 4 interdisciplinary meetings
– We have analyzed types of archeological data sets, identified gaps and
set priorities.
– Then, we have been creating extensions of the CRM (and proposing
improvements) collaboratively
Approach for Fact Connection
4

5. Types of archaeological data sets :
About things and “finds”:
o Archive/Museum/SMR collection registries: collection level
description
o Archive/Museum collection databases and “corpora”: documentation
of objects collected by subject, such as
o fine arts, sculpture, numismatic, epigraphy, particular excavations,
particular culture
o Description and declaration of archaeological sites or monuments
(“SMR”)
o Architectural drawings
About “finding”:
o Survey records
o Remote sensing (see also “measuring”)
o Excavation records: daily context/layer/phase/find descriptions,
description of larger structures, images
Types of Data
5

6. Types of data sets cont’d:
About measuring things (during excavation, conservation, other specific
research):
o Imaging methods (X-ray, seismic, photogrammetry, laser, 3D surface/density
models)
o Physical analytical investigation records:
o measurements of C14, thermoluminescence etc.
o mineralogical/chemical analysis: lithic , metallurgic, ceramic, bone
o Biological analytical investigation records.
o archaeobotanic observations and measurements
o physical anthropological data, osteological data… (health state of human
remains)
o DNA analysis
o Analytical reference data:
o calibration/ reference sets of analytic data: C14, tree ring,..
o material provenance reference sets
o archaeobotany: species, seeds, pollen, tissues
o DNA reference
Types of Data
6

7. Types of data sets cont’d :
Integrated hypothesis building:
o GIS: Find distributions, landscape, visibility analysis, resources and land use
o spatiotemporal distribution of cultures etc.
o synthetic data: Simulations (population behavior, land use etc.)
o virtual reconstructions
o quantitative statistical analysis
About administration:
o protection zones
o conservation planning
o excavation licenses
Types of Data
7

8. CIDOC CRM Top-level Classes
participate in
E39 Actors
E55 Types
E28 Conceptual Objects
E18 Physical Thing
E2 Temporal Entities
affect or / refer to
refer to / refine
location
at
E53 Places
E52 Time-Spans
8

9. CIDOC CRM Temporal Entities
E2 Temporal Entity
E5 Event E63 Beginning of Existence
E7 Activity
E69 Death
E6 Destruction
E87 Curation Activity
E83 Type Creation
E13 Attribute Assignment
E86 Leaving
E80 Part Removal
E 79 Part Addition
Generalization
E64 End of Existence
E10 Transfer of Custody
E15 Identifier Assignment
E4 Period
E3 Condition State
E68 Dissolution
E81 Transformation
E67 Birth
E66 Formation
E65 Creation
E11 Modification
E9 Move
E8 Acquisition
E85 Joining
E12 Production
E17 Type Assignment
E14 Condition Assessment
E16 Measurement
9

10. Historical Events as Meetings
S
t
Caesar’s
mother Caesar
Brutus
Brutus’
dagger
“coherence volume” of
Caesar’s death
“coherence volume”
of Caesar’s birth
was present at! was present at! was present at!
was present at!
was present at!
? Forum Romanum,
Rome
10

11. Exchanges of Information as Meetings
t
S
runner
1st Athenian
coherence volume of
first announcement
coherence volume of the
battle of Marathon
Marathon
other
Soldiers
Athens
2nd Athenian
coherence volume of
second announcement
Victory!!!
Victory!!!
11

12. S
t
operator
1st Computer
coherence volume of
mesh-creation
coherence volume
of acquisition
Museum
museum
object
It-Lab
2nd Computer
coherence volume of
rendering
scan-data
3D
model
scanner
mesh-
data
12
Observation and Measurement as Meetings

13. • CRMgeo: a Spatiotemporal model
– integrates CRM with OGC standards
– a complete model of phenomena occupying spacetime
– integrates geometry- and semantics-derived topological relations
• CRMsci: a Scientific Observation model (descriptive sciences)
– generalizes over INSPIRE, OBOE, SEEK, Darwin Core
– generalizes concepts of units of matter and their “genesis”
– introduces concept of observation and data evaluation
– also validated in geology and biodiversity
• CRMarchaeo: an Excavation model
– introduces concepts of stratigraphy and excavation
• CRMdig: a model of Digital Provenance
– outcome of project 3D-COFORM being adapted to CRMsci
Outcome: CRM compatible Extensions
13

14. Challenge: Integrating Special and General…
(not core & application profiles !)
Access all data from any level
by property generalization
Dublin Core
CDWA
MIDAS
Data
Few concepts,
high recall
Special concepts,
high precision
automatic
data export
CIDOC
Conceptual Reference Model (CRM)
Thing
Actor
Event
Acquisition
was present at
used object
happened at
14

15. CIDOC CRM extension suite
Few concepts,
high recall
Special concepts,
high precision
CIDOC
Conceptual Reference Model (CRM)
Thing
Actor
Event
was present at
happened at
15
CRMSci
CRM
CRMArcheo CRMDig

16. CRMSci (part of)
E13 Attribute
Assignment
E55 Type
S5 Inference Making
S4 Observation
S10 Material Substantial
S14 Fluid BodyS11 Amount of Matter
E54 Dimension
E18 Physical Thing
P2 has type
S9 Property Type
O8 observed
S6 Data Evaluation
S8 Categorical Hypothesis Building
S7 Simulation or Prediction
S15 Observable Entity
O11 described
S1 Matter Removal
O5 removed
S2 Sample Taking
S13 Sample
E7
Activity
S19 Encounter Event
O19 has found
object
O10 assigned
dimension
O12 has dimension
1
O9 observed property
type
O16 observed value
E1 CRM Entity
E55 Type
S21 Measurement
E55 Type
O20 sampled from type of
part
E53 Place
O3 sampled from
O2 removed
O1 diminished
O24 measured
S12 Amount of Fluid
O6 forms former or current part of
O15 occupied
O4 sampled at
CRMSci concept
CRM Concept

17. Encounter Event
S4 Observation
E7 Activity
1
E16 Measurement
S19 Encounter EventS21 Measurement
E53 Place E18 Physical Thing
O21 has found
at
O19 has found
object
S20 / E26 Physical Feature
E27 SiteE25 Man-Made Feature S22 Segment of Matter
O22 partly or completely
contains
E92 Spacetime Volume
O23 is defined
by
S19 Encounter Event
Scope Note:
Activities of S4 Observation (substance) where an E39 Actor
encounters an instance of E18 Physical Thing of a kind relevant
for the mission of the observation or regarded as potentially
relevant for some community (identity). This observation
produces knowledge about the existence of the respective thing
at a particular place in or on surrounding matter. This
knowledge may be new to the group of people the actor belongs
to. In that case we would talk about a discovery.
CRMSci (part of)

18. CRMarcheo: Modelling stratigraphic units
18
A2 Stratigraphic Deposit Unit
A3 Stratigraphic Interface
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
…comprises physical
features (S20) that are
either stratigraphic deposit
units (A2) or Stratigraphic
Interfaces (A3)

19. 19
A2 Stratigraphic Deposit Unit
A3 Stratigraphic Interface
A7Embedding
A1 Excavation Process Unit
AP4 created surfaceS2 with spit
method
A1 Excavation Process Unit
AP4 created surfaceS1 with
stratigraphic method
CRMarcheo: Modelling Excavation Activities

20. 20
Modelling stratigraphic units
A2 Stratigraphic Deposit Unit comprises connected portions of terrain or other solid
structure on, in, or under the surface of earth or seafloor exhibiting some homogeneity of
structure or substance and completely bounded by surfaces or discontinuities in substance or
structure with respect to other portions of the terrain or surfaces of objects/finds … may
contain physical objects.
… can be attributed to a single genesis event or process and have the potential to be
observed.
… is regarded to exist as long as a part of its matter is still in place with respect to a
surrounding reference space
A3 Stratigraphic Interface comprises coherent parts of the boundary surface of one or more
stratigraphic units, which appears as result of a common genesis event or process. In particular
it may be due to a removal process, which may be part of the genesis process of a
Stratigraphic Unit or not. .. …confines (AP12) partly or completely the surface (A3 Stratigraphic
Interface) of an A2 Stratigraphic Deposit Unit. One A3 Stratigraphic Interface may confine two
or more A2 Stratigraphic Deposit Units.

21. 21
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
A2 Deposit Unit
(18)
A2 Deposit Unit
(15)
A3 Interface
[3]
A2 Deposit Unit
(4)
AP11 has
physical
relation
cuts
fills
above
cuts
A3 Interface
[19]
cuts
fills
A2 Deposit Unit
(2)
A2 Deposit Unit
(1)
above
above
above
CRMarcheo: Observing Physical Constellations

22. CRMarcheo: Derivation of Temporal Relations
22
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
34
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
35
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
36
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
37
above
AP11 has
physical
relation
above
above
A4 Stratigraphic Genesis
AP7 produced
(was produced
by)
AP13 has
stratigraphic
relation (is
stratigraphic
relation of)
AP14 justified by

23. CRMarcheo: Stratigraphic Genesis
A1 Excavation Process Unit
E7 Activity
A8 Stratigraphic Unit
A3 Stratigraphic Interface
A4 Stratigraphic Genesis S10 Material Substantial
S11 Amount of Matter
AP1 produced
AP7 produced
AP9 took matter from
23
A5 Stratigraphic Modification EventS17 Physical Genesis
S20 Physical Feature
AP13 has stratigraphic relation
AP8 disturbed
A2 Stratigraphic Deposit Unit
AP12 is confined by
S18 Alteration
A9 Segment of Matter
E18 Physical Thing
AP24 is or contains remains of
AP11 has physical relation
AP10 is part of

24. Besides others, we have analyzed
– special collection databases (numismatic etc.)
– 5 different national methods of excavation recording
– 10 different kinds of analytical investigation, including DNA,
thermoluminescence etc,
– temporal gazetteers and “therauri of periods
We have consulted and collaborated with archaeologists, physicists, chemists,
microbiologists, biologists and other specialists and observed a surprising
analogy of procedures, which we could model as generic concepts.
Now we have a coherent global ontology for deep integration of scientific and
cultural-historical evidence and facts, probably the most elaborate and
generic currently existing for descriptive sciences.
We have submitted these extensions to CIDOC for approval and
recommendation, and work on further validation and quality of
documentation.
Conclusions
24

25. Acknowledgement
ARIADNE is a project funded by the European Commission
under the Community’s Seventh Framework Programme,
contract no. FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2012-1-313193.
The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are the
sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the European Commission.