Semantic database and hosting
The hosting of this WissKI database is provided by the FAU Competence Center Research Data and Information (FAU CDI).
This digital repository is based on the open source software WissKI which was developed for modeling and storing semantic data. In the subchapters you will find detailed information about the ontology and the data model for the documentation of analysing mesolithic human footprints. Furthermore, there have been publications in this respect, that you find in this list.
The data is stored as semantic triples in the triplestore graphdb hosted by the FAU CDI. The underlying SQL-database is Mariadb. The content management system is Drupal.
Ontologies in use
For a robust data model for mesolithic human footprints and their interpretation, the ontology CIDOC CRM (version 7.1.3) has been employed. CIDOC CRM is meant to represent cultural objects and phenomena of the existing world and helps to integrate heterogeneous cultural heritage information. In this case, concepts of the extensions of the Scientific Observation Model (CRMsci) and CRMarchaeo were employed, too. In case of need for even more specific issues, new classes and properties were built in the project-specific ontology (prefix “cora”).
Data model
The core issues of the project are represented by the following key concepts from the above mentioned ontologies CIDOC CRM, crmsci, crmarchaeo and "cora". The footprint as the initial point of the analysis is represented by instances of the project-specific class cora:Spoor, a subclass of crmsci:S20_Rigid_Physical_Feature. With the intention to represent a real world phenomenon the footprint is referred to as a materially visible physical feature with a relatively stable and invariant form. To represent the topographical context of a footprint, subclasses of the CIDOC CRM class E27_Site were built. Semantically described in a part of relation, a cora:Spoor is located in (cidoc-crm:P59i) a cora:Spatial_Unit forms part of a cora:Cave.
Documenting research results requires documenting their generation. A crucial aspect of modeling with CIDOC CRM is representing reality through events, here mostly understood as attribute assignments (cidoc-crm:E13_Attribute_Assignments) that link information from knowledge generation to the researched objects. Measures like assigning an ID to a footprint (cora:ID_Assignment), measuring its size and distance to other footprints (cidoc-crm:E16_Measurement and cora:Distance_Measurement), determining its status of preservation (cidoc-crm:E14_Condition_Assessment), making statements about its generation including deductions to its human creator and his activities (crmsci:S5_Inference_Making) are represented via subclasses of cidoc-crm:E13_Attribute_Assignment. The research outcome of the Inference Making represents the statements taken by consensus by the track readers (Subject, Activity, Event and Trackway).
The overall analyzing measures of each footprint are bundled by an instance of the class crmsci:S4_Observation. According to the scope note it “comprises the activity of gaining scientific knowledge about particular states of physical reality through empirical evidence, experiments and measurements”. All Observations analyzing single footprints take place within an archaeological project modeled via crmsci:S4_Observation -> cidoc-crm:P10_falls_within-> crmarchaeo:A9_Archaeological_Excavation.
Further main bundles are Image and Documentation. They are represented by instances of cora:Image, subclass of cidoc-crm:E73_Information_Object, and cora:Document, subclass of cidoc-crm:E31_Document. An instance of the class cora:Document comprises any kind of (written) documentation containing information and metainformation about the project, its circumstances or the data (set).
For more information, find the presentation at the CAA 2026 in Vienna here.
(status of June 2026)
