Developing an archaeological data archive at the Austrian Academy of Sciences: the ‘A - PowerPoint Presentation

1. Developing an archaeological data archive at the Austrian Academy of Sciences: the ‘A puzzle in 4D’ projectEdeltraud Aspöck, Gerald Hiebel, Matej Ďurčo

2. Project & AimsDigital long-term preservation of ressources from Austrian excavations at Tell el Daba (Egypt)A puzzle in 4D: digital preservation and reconstruction of an Egyptian palaceCooperations with: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute ArchProChicago UniversityÖsterreichisches Archäologisches Institut, Grabung Tell el Dab‘a Archaeology Data ServicePIN Scri - Polo Universitario "Città di Prato"Funding: Austrian Academy of Sciences digital long-term preservation program (ÖAW/ACDH Digital Humanities) & ARIADNE (FP7-313193)February 2015 – January 2020OREA & ACDH (Austrian Academy of Sciences)Case study to develop archaeology data archive at the Austrian Academy of Sciences

3. Tell el Daba (TED)12th – 18th Dynasty (early second millenium BC)Wealthy society with contacts to eastern Mediterranean and Minoan cultureTED wall painting depicting bull leapers

4. ExcavationSince 1966 8 excavation areas88 fieldwork campaigns

5. Planquadrate - squaresExcavation methodology

6. Chronology/StratigraphyStratum a/1: gravesStratum a/2: temple with offering pits (V. Müller 2008), gravesStratum b/1: settlement with large villae, cemeteriesStratum b/2: villae, with houses of the dead; Alleyways Stratum b/3: villae Egyptean style; Graves & cemeteries Stratum c: Squatter, mass gravesStratum d/1: palace (=Villa) 2 phases; Wall painting fragments; 2. gardens; Large cemetery (Schiestl 2009)Stratum d/2: Syrian-style house: oldest building of the first settlersStratum e: settlement for workers (Czerny 1999)

7. ANALOGUE documentationPhotos15 000 photos200 000 photo negativesof which 1/3 are 6x6 negatives45 000 slidesDrawingsfind drawings: 15 200 pencil on cardboard + 8000 ink on cardboard35 000 field drawings (plana, sections, details): colour pencils on millimeter paper4500 plans, nearly all DIN A2 or A1: ink on tracing paperWritten documentation5 folders of excavation protocols - 300 pages eachLists, find cards, etc.

8. ANALOGUE resourcesProfile drawingGround plan drawingFind drawing

9. ANALOGUE resourcesProtocolLocus listsInventoriesCeramics inventoryConvolute cardFind card

10. DIGITAL resourcesPhotosPhotos: field- and finds-photos, since 2007DrawingsAutoCAD Plans: fieldplans of some areas digitizedScans of finds drawings, since 2011 complete, before only occasionallyWritten documentationTED Documentation access database, since 2007 (protocol-, locus- &wall lists)Scans of inventories of Pottery and small finds (complete)OtherDatabases: wall painting fragments, stone tools, human remains, animal bones, botanic remains, sealsSpreadsheets: C14 measurementsGeophysical surveys (geo-magnetic and geo-physics)GPS-plansVarious mapsIllustrator files: reconstruction drawings

11. DIGITAL resourcesDatabasePhotosPlans

12. Challenges

13. Data modelCIDOC CRM & ExtensionsExcavation obj. – archaeological obj.CRMscience & CRMarchaeoCRMdig

14. What questions do we want to answer with our MetadataAll documents for an excavation object (e.g. Site TD ,Area F/1, SQUARE j/21, Planum 3)All documents for an archaeological object type (e.g. grave, wall , vase, ….)All documents for an archaeological object (e.g. grave 5 and walls in Site TD - Area F/1 - SQUARE j/21 - Planum 3)All archaeological objects of a specific type in an areaHow to create identifiers for (... in what context is a name unique) :DocumentsArchaeological objectsExcavation objectsPhysical storageFilesHow do documents, excavation objects and archaeological objects relate“Grave2” in “Site TD - Area F/1 - Square j/21 - Planum 3” and “Planum 4”Planum drawing “FZ 3771” shows “Site TD - Area F/1 - Square j/21 - Planum 3”

15. FilenameScan_TitelScan_DateCreatorEquipmentResolution_dpiDokument_IDMappeDokumententypDT_AbkDokumenten_DetailtypDDT_AbkTD_H-I_e26_Planum1__TD_FZ_3771TD_H-I_e26_Planum115.04.2016Natalie MonscheinEPSON expression 10000XL600TD_FZ_3771H I_e/26 Pl. Det. Prof.FeldzeichnungFZPlanumPLInventarInventar_SigDatumJahrSaisonMonatZeichnerZeichner MonogrammCopyrightMaßstabTypFundstelle377125.04.20012001FAprilDieta SvobodaDSÖAI1:50MillimeterpapierTDArealPlanquadrat_SchnittPlanumLocusProfilrichtungStratumGrabungs_objekte IDArch_objekte IDFeldbeobachtung_AufarbeitungBlattvermerkScanvermerkH-Ie261TD_H-I_e26_Planum1_2001FFeldbeobachtungExcavation obj IDTest data – field drawing

16. Excel with macros to allow 1:n relationsdata validation for controlled vocabularies (Identifiers & Terms)Metadata entry - expert users Physical Documentation - Field Drawings

17. Metadata entry Identifiers, hierarchies, terms and relations for Excavation Objects and Archaeological Objects

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19. Independent system components (ideally open source) – open interfaces between components – more important than open source !!!! System architectureSystem architectureExcelTriple Store???Fedora 4.0 ?Excel & SKOS

20. RDF creationTransform Excel to RDF CIDOC CRM & ExtensionsIntegrate data for different sourcesField DrawingsFotos…....Controlled VocabulariesArchiving System (file locations)Metadata storage system – how to get the data in ?e.g. Karma tool FileField DrawingArchaeological objectExcavation object

21. Metadata queryingSimple querying totest data model test triple store implementation make quality controlQueries like:All documents for an excavation areas (e.g. Site TD, Area F/1, SQUARE j/21)All documents for an archaeological feature/find type (e.g. grave, wall, vase,...)All documents for an archaeological feature/find (e.g. grave 5 and walls in Site TD - Area F/1 - SQUARE j/21 - Planum 3)Possible workflowsa) Denormalize data from Triple Store through SPARQL Query -> import to Excel -> Use Excel filter functions for the queriesb) Query directly in Triple Store via SPARQL (with predefined queries)c) Simple web application allowing browsing and search working on a snapshot of the data from triple store

22. Thank you for your attention!