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What is the CRMarchaeo?

CRMarchaeo is an extension of CIDOC CRM created to support the archaeological excavation process and all the various entities and activities related to it. The model has been created starting from standards and models already in use by national and international cultural heritage institutions, and has evolved through deep analysis of existing metadata from real archaeological documentation. It has been enriched by continuous collaboration with various communities of archaeologists from different countries and schools. Furthermore, it takes advantage of the concepts provided by CRMsci, from which it inherits most of the geological and stratigraphic principles that govern archaeological stratigraphy, extending these principles. 

CRMarchaeo is intended to provide all necessary tools to manage and integrate existing documentation in order to formalise knowledge extracted from observations made by archaeologists, recorded in various ways and adopting different standards. In this sense, its purpose is to facilitate the semantic encoding, exchange, interoperability and access of existing archaeological documentation

CRMarchaeo is a  proposal for approval by CIDOC CRM  SIG

What is the idea?

CRMarchaeo takes inspiration from the basic idea on which archaeology is based according to Harris Matrix, that the features of an archaeological site are to be found in the stratified context, which is investigated by an archaeological excavation. It takes into consideration the physical arrangement of archaeological stratification and the events that led to the formation of a particular stratigraphic situation. The model comprises entities and properties for describing stratigraphic genesis and modifications and the natural phenomena or human intervention that led to their creation, the nature and shape of existing stratifications and surfaces, and the analysis of the human remains or artefacts found within the strata.  This will enable archaeologists to determine the relative chronological order in which stratification was formed. The interpretation of the chronological sequences, also based on the space-time analysis of a specific site, provides all the elements needed for the reconstruction of the identity, life, beliefs, behaviour and activities of a given group of people in the past in that specific place.

 

Text status: 
To be reviewed