Information Modelling for Archaeology and Anthropology: Software Engineering Principles for Cultural Heritage

439 Pages·2018·13.76 MB·English

by  Cesar Gonzalez-Perez (auth.)

Cesar Gonzalez-Perez
Information
Modelling for
Archaeology and
Anthropology
Software Engineering Principles for
Cultural Heritage
Information Modelling for Archaeology
and Anthropology
This book contains multiple diagrams expressed in ConML. See www.conml.org
for more information on ConML. This book also makes extensive reference to the
Cultural Heritage Abstract Reference Model (CHARM). See www.charminfo.org
formoreinformationonCHARM.ConMLandCHARMareresearchoutcomesof
Incipit CSIC (www.incipit.csic.es) and can be used freely under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).
Mostofthemanyexamplesusedthroughoutthisbookhavebeenmadeupbythe
author to better illustrate the different modelling techniques. No particular state-
ments or views on the world should be assumed from them.
Interior photographs correspond to Praza das Praterías in Santiago de
Compostela,Spain;excavationat95GeorgeStreet,Sydney,Australia;theNational
MuseumofChinainBeijing,China;arivermillinBegonte,Lugo,Spain;andMaes
HoweinOrkney,Scotland.TheyweretakenjointlybytheauthorandIsabelCobas.
This book was prepared by the author using Microsoft Word 2016 for editing
and layout, and Microsoft Visio 2016 for the figures. The ConML diagrams were
composed by using the Visio stencil at http://www.conml.org/Resources_
Templates.aspx.
There is a Spanish language edition of this book, titled “Modelado de
InformaciónparaArqueologíayAntropología:PrincipiosdeIngenieríadeSoftware
para Patrimonio Cultural”, and with ISBN 978-1537766706.
Cesar Gonzalez-Perez
Information Modelling
for Archaeology
and Anthropology
Software Engineering Principles for Cultural
Heritage
123
CesarGonzalez-Perez
Incipit, CSIC
SantiagodeCompostela, ACoruña
Spain
ISBN978-3-319-72651-9 ISBN978-3-319-72652-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72652-6
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017961095
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2018
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of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
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To the memory of my father, for his curiosity,
idealism, and passion.
Preface
This book is the result of over 20 years of research and practice in the interdisci-
plinaryareaofinformationtechnologiesandculturalheritage.Inthe1990s,wehad
not heard yet of the “digital humanities”, but we were aware that archaeology,
anthropology and other areas in the humanities desperately needed proposals to
help manage the increasing amounts of information that they were generating, and
sustain the associated knowledge-generation practices. Today, this trend has only
intensified, and the application of solid, high-quality engineering principles to the
construction of information systems and knowledge-generation approaches in the
humanities is paramount. In particular, research in the humanities depends very
much on the information that is managed, how it is shaped and structured (i.e.
“modelled”), and how knowledge is generated from it through interpretive pro-
cesses. In the absence of a rigorous approach, we may end up being unable to use
our valuable information for the intended goals.
Thesoftwareandknowledgeengineeringdisciplineshavebeenusingconceptual
modelling for a while and exporting it to other fields such as biomedicine or
businessorganization.However,robustapplicationsofconceptualmodellingtothe
humanitiesarescarce.Inthisbook,weapplyprovenprinciplesandtechniquesfrom
thesoftwareandknowledgeengineeringfieldstotheproblemsofculturalheritage.
Also, we show how these principles and techniques have been adapted and
extended to cope with the peculiarities of the humanities and, specifically,
archaeology and anthropology.
This book is primarily aimed at students and teachers of data management,
information modelling and related areas in any field related to cultural heritage,
such as archaeology, anthropology, art, museology, geography, history, architec-
ture, archival science, literature, and even sociology or soil sciences. Other spe-
cialists in cultural heritage such as researchers, heritage managers or heritage
professionals working in industry can also use this book in a self-paced manner to
learn about the topic.
This book assumes no previous exposure by the reader to information tech-
nologies and no knowledge whatsoever of conceptual modelling, ontologies or
other topics in software or knowledge engineering. Technical detail is kept low or
vii
viii Preface
moderate, and special technical asides used to provide highly specialized or com-
plex detailsonly whenneeded aremarked“Technical”.Youcansafelyskipthese
sections if not interested in the philosophical or engineering underpinnings of
things.Specificwordsorphrasesbeing discussedareshownindoublequotes,like
“this”. Single quotes, like ‘this’, are used to refer not to the words but to the
underlying concepts. Bibliographic references mentioned in the text are indicated
by numbers in brackets, like this [15]. There is a reference list at the end of each
chapter. In addition, most of the chapters in this book end with a summary of the
contents presented, as well as some exercises that you can use to verify how well
youhaveunderstoodthem.Solutionstotheexercisesareprovidedattheendofthis
book.
This book is organized into five parts of increasing complexity. First, a general
philosophical introduction to conceptual modelling is provided, to develop a con-
textual feel of the approach and a better understanding of the technical issues that
are described later. Secondly, the basics of conceptual modelling are introduced,
using the ConML (www.conml.org) language as an infrastructure, and employing
examples from everyday life and, as often as possible, cultural heritage. Then,
advanced topics in conceptual modelling are presented, in order to fully cover the
necessary aspects of ConML that will allow the reader to develop and understand
complex conceptual models. After this, a proposed conceptualization of cultural
heritage is presented, using the Cultural Heritage Abstract Reference Model
(CHARM, www.charminfo.org) as a reference, so that conceptual models of cul-
tural heritage can be easily constructed. Finally, various usage scenarios and
applications of cultural heritage modelling are described, giving practical tips on
how to use different techniques to solve real-world problems. You are free to read
only the first few parts if you are only interested in an overview of the topic, or
jump to the last parts if you are already familiar with it. If you are learning about
conceptualmodellinginculturalheritageforthefirsttimeandyouareinterestedin
obtaining a comprehensive view, then I suggest that you read this book cover to
cover.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the contributions that many people have
madetothematerialspresentedinthisbook.Mostspecially,theConMLmodelling
languagehasbenefitedfromtheinputofCharlotteHugandPatriciaMartín-Rodilla.
PartsofChap.19havebeenco-writtenwithCésarParcero-Oubiña,andhisinput,as
well as David Barreiro’s, has been crucial to the whole chapter. The definitions of
culture, cultural heritage, cultural value and heritage value that are discussed in
Part IV have been refined from the results of a series of internal workshops at
Incipit CSIC (www.incipit.csic.es), with contributions by Ana Ruiz-Blanch, A.
César González-García, César Parcero-Oubiña, Cristina Sánchez-Carretero, David
Barreiro, Felipe Criado-Boado, Joan Roura-Expósito, Juan Castro-Cal, Patricia
Martín-RodillaandRuthVarela.Inturn,theinitialversionoftheCulturalHeritage
Abstract Reference Model (CHARM) was developed by a core team led by the
author plus Alejandro Güimil-Fariña, Camila Gianotti, César Parcero-Oubiña,
Charlotte Hug, Patricia Martín-Rodilla, Pastor Fábrega-Álvarez and Rebeca
Preface ix
Blanco-Rotea, with additional input from Cristina Mato-Fresán, Lucía Meijueiro
and Rocío Varela-Pousa. The whole manuscript was revised by Isabel Cobas.
In addition, my co-workers at Incipit CSIC have been courageous enough as to
not only accept a stranger between them, but also provide a challenging and
exciting environmentwheretrulytransdisciplinary research canbecarried out.My
collaborators at the Centro de Investigación en Métodos de Producción Software
(PROS) of the Universitat Politècnica de València, the Centre de Recherche en
Informatique(CRI)oftheUniversitéParis1—Panthéon-Sorbonne,andtheCentre
for Object Technology Applications and Research (COTAR) of the University of
Technology, Sydney, have opened many doors and shaped the results of my
researchverysignificantly.Also,thecommunityaroundtheComputerApplications
and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) association and annual confer-
ence has also been an endless source of inspiration and problems waiting to be
solved. The users of ConML and CHARM, including the students of our regular
postgraduate courses at the University of Santiago de Compostela and elsewhere,
have also provided very useful feedback. And, last but not least, the boundless
conversations with my dear Isabel have delivered both uncompromising support
andpowerfulinsightsintotheconceptualmodellingofculturalheritagelikenobody
else’s. Thank you all.
Santiago de Compostela, Spain Cesar Gonzalez-Perez
Contents
Part I Introduction to Conceptual Modelling
1 What Is Conceptual Modelling? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Premises and Foundations of Conceptual Modelling. . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Premises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Linguistic Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Conceptual Modelling Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
What Are Conceptual Models Made Of? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 Benefits and Applications of Conceptual Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Exploration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Part II The Basics of Conceptual Modelling
4 Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Instance Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5 Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
xi