Joined up Thinking: Aggregating archaeological datasets at an international scale

Archaeological data repositories usually manage excavation data collections as project-level entities with restricted capacities to facilitate search or aggregation of excavation data at the sub-collection level (trenches, finds, season reports or excavation diaries etc.). More granular access to excavation data collections would enable layered querying across their informational content. In the past decade, several attempts to adapt CIDOC CRM in order to provide more explicit descriptions of the excavation universe have resulted in the use of domain-specific model extensions (e.g. CRMarchaeo, CRMsci, CRMba). Each focuses on corresponding aspects of the excavation research process, while their combined usage has potential to support expressive data mappings at the sub-collection level. As part of the ARIADNEplus project, several CIDOC CRM developers and domain experts have collaborated to undertake conceptual mapping exercises, to address the practicalities of bringing excavation data descriptions together and to link these to our overall aspirations in terms of excavation data discoverability and reusability. In this contribution, we discuss the current state and future directions of the field of semantic representation of archaeological excavation data and consider several issues that constrain the applicability of existing solutions. We identify five key enabling technologies or research areas (Conceptual models and semantic data structures, Conceptual modelling patterns, Data mapping workflows and tools, Learning technologies and Semantic queries) and assign readiness levels to assess their level of technological maturity. Our research demonstrates that while the existing models and domain-specific extensions are deemed adequate, there is a need for more user-friendly methods and tools to structure data in meaningful and interoperable ways. The next steps involve consolidating relevant semantic structures, improving modelling implementation guidance, adhering to consistent workflows, developing engaging curricula, and documenting real-case examples to demonstrate the benefits and results of semantic data integration.

Section: The Current State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semantic Modelling of Archaeological Excavation Data. A review of the current state of the art and a roadmap of activities

Katsianis,

Bruseker,

Nenova

et al. 2023

“…The ARIADNE Catalogue is searchable according to the three facets of 'where' (space), 'when' (time), and 'what' (object) based on controlled vocabularies. To make this possible, project partners were asked to make their metadata available so it could be collected, transformed into the ARIADNEplus data model (AO-Cat), stored on a triple store based on GraphDB technology, and enriched with links to PeriodO and the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) (Richards 2023). Practically, this meant we had to prepare our data in XML, provide a mapping of the local schema to the AO-Cat, prepare mappings between the local vocabulary and the Getty AAT, and create a PeriodO dataset.…”

Section: Transforming the Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was the successor to ARIADNE (Archaeological Research Infrastructure for Archaeological Data Networking in Europe), whose goal was to 'provide open access to Europe's archaeological heritage and overcome the fragmentation of digital repositories, placed in different countries and compiled in different languages' (Niccolucci and Richards 2019, 7). The most readily visible part of the project is the ARIADNE Portal, a website providing access to the ARIADNE Catalogue containing the aggregated metadata of the project partners (see Introduction, Richards et al 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Following the Thread: Integrating SORAN's Japanese Dataset into ARIADNE

Takata,

Yanase

2023

The Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan (SORAN) is an online index of domestic archaeological excavations operated by the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (NABUNKEN). SORAN emerged as a response to the need to improve the findability and accessibility of Japanese archaeological grey literature and the information contained therein. NABUNKEN joined the ARIADNEplus project in 2019 and finished integrating SORAN's metadata into the ARIADNE Catalogue in 2022. In this article we give a short overview of how archaeological data, especially fieldwork reports, are produced in Japan. Next, we summarise the history of SORAN and the nature of its dataset. Finally, we explain the steps taken to transform the Japanese dataset to allow its integration in the ARIADNE Catalogue.

“…That has all changed with ARIADNE (Aloia et al 2017;Richards and Niccolucci 2019). As discussed in more detail by Richards (2023;this volume), the ARIADNE infrastructure has brought together a wide variety of archaeological resources in its portal, allowing the cross-search of archaeological data drawn from over forty countries. The portal is underpinned by an RDF triple store and data are mapped to a shared ontology, the AO-Cat, which is a subset of the CIDOC-CRM (Felicetti et al 2023).…”

Section: Data Integration Via Ariadnementioning

confidence: 99%

Getting it Together: Combining information about archaeological sites and artefacts in ARIADNE

Richards

2023

Self Cite

This article discusses the situation that exists in several European countries, whereby information about archaeological sites and monuments, and that about finds recorded by members of the public (primarily via metal detecting), is held in entirely separate databases. This prevents heritage management decisions being taken with full awareness of known archaeology, and makes research that seeks to draw on multiple information resources difficult. The article demonstrates how the European ARIADNE e-infrastructure has facilitated the integration of large-scale artefact and site information. Over one million records from the British Museum Portable Antiquities Scheme database and over one million records for English sites, monuments, and grey literature have been integrated in an open access interface for the first time, permitting entirely new research questions to be addressed.