Excavation Process Unit
type: Class
notation: A1
comment: This class comprises activities of excavating in the sense of archaeology which are documented as a coherent set of actions of progressively recording and removing matter from a pre-specified location under specific rules. Typically, an excavation process unit would be terminated if significant discontinuities of substance or finds come to light, or if the activity should be interrupted due to external factors, such as end of a working day. In other cases, the termination would be based on predefined physical specifications, such as the boundaries of a maximal volume of matter intended to be excavated in one unit of excavation. Depending on the methodology, an instance of A1 Excavation Process Unit may intend to remove matter only within the boundaries of a particular stratigraphic unit, or it may follow a pre-declared spatial extent such as a trench. It may only uncover, clean or expose a structure or parts of it. The process of excavation results in the production of a set of recorded (documentation) data that should be sufficient to provide researchers enough information regarding the consistence and spatial distribution of the excavated Segment of Matter and things and features embedded in it. Some parts or all of the removed physical material (S11 Amount of Matter) may be dispersed, whereas others may be kept in custody in the form of finds or samples, while others (such as parts of walls) may be left at the place of their discovery. The data produced by an instance of excavation process unit should pertain to the material state of matter at excavation time only and should well be distinguished from subsequent interpretation about the causes for this state of matter.
subclass of: Destruction
subclass of: Observation

Stratigraphic Volume Unit
type: Class
notation: A2
comment: This class comprises connected portions of terrain or other solid structure on, in, or under the surface of earth or seafloor exhibiting some homogeneity of structure or substance and completely bounded by surfaces or discontinuities in substance or structure with respect to other portions of the terrain or surfaces of objects/finds. An instance of A8 Stratigraphic Unit may contain physical objects. The internal continuity and the boundaries of an instance of A8 Stratigraphic Unit should be of a kind that can be attributed to a single genesis event or process and have the potential to be observed. One genesis event may have created more than one SU. An instance of A8 Stratigraphic Unit is regarded to exist as long as a part of its matter is still in place with respect to a surrounding reference space such that its spatial features can be associated with effects of the genesis process of interest. Normally at least one of the surfaces (such as the lower one) from its genesis event will remain during its existence. This also implies that a certain degree of coherent (“conformal”) deformation is tolerable within its time-span of existence. Therefore the place an instance of A8 Stratigraphic Unit occupies can be uniquely identified with respect to the surrounding reference space of archaeological interest.
subclass of: Stratigraphic Unit

Stratigraphic Interface
type: Class
notation: A3
comment: This class comprises coherent parts of the boundary surface, which appears as the result of a stratigraphic genesis event or process. The interface marks the extreme limit of the effect of a genesis or modification event, and indicates in particular where the effect of this event ended. Each event of creation/destruction of a deposition layer implies the creation of new interfaces. Thus there are two main types of interface: those that are surfaces of strata (that can be directly related to the corresponding stratum via the AP12 confines property), and those that are only surfaces, formed by the removal or destruction of existing stratifications.
subclass of: Stratigraphic Unit

Stratigraphic Genesis
type: Class
notation: A4
comment: This class comprises activities or processes that have produced homogeneous, distinguishable units of stratification that are in a relatively stable form from the time of their genesis until they are observed. Such processes may be the aggregation of cycles of erosion/destruction, deposit/accumulation, transformation/modification occurring on a particular site throughout a particular period of time. These processes are usually due not only to natural forces (i.e., climate, the impact of flora and fauna, other natural events), but also to human activities, in particular, excavation and construction. An event of stratification genesis typically produces two main forms of stratification units both a deposit and an interface.
subclass of: Stratigraphic Modification
subclass of: Physical Genesis

Stratigraphic Modification
type: Class
notation: A5
comment: This class comprises activities or processes resulting in the modification of Stratigraphic Units after their genesis through A4 Stratigraphic Genesis Events.
subclass of: Alteration

Group Declaration Event
type: Class
notation: A6
comment: This class comprises activities resulting in the assignment of a common attribute to several Stratigraphic Units. This may be due to an archaeologists interpretation of them being part of one physical thing, like postholes being part of one building.

Embedding
type: Class
notation: A7
comment: This class comprises the states of instances of E18 Physical Things of being partially or completely embedded at a particular position with relative stability in one or more A2 Stratigraphic Volume Units. Normally, an embedding is expected having been stable from the time of generation on of the first A2 Stratigraphic Volume Unit that surrounds it. However, it may also be due to later intrusion. As an empirical fact, the expert may only be able to decide that a particular embedding is not recent, i.e., has been persisting for longer than the activity that encountered it. This class can be used to document the fact of embedding generally with respect to the surrounding matter or more specifically with respect to a more precise position within this matter. It further allows for specifying temporal bounds for which a particular embedding has been existing as specified according to evidence.

Stratigraphic Unit
type: Class
notation: A8
comment: This class comprises S20 Physical Features that are either A2 Stratigraphic Volume Units or A3 Stratigraphic Interfaces
subclass of: Physical Feature

Archaeological Excavation
type: Class
notation: A9
comment: This class describes the general concept of archaeological escavation intended as a coordinated set of excavation process units (A1) performed on an area considered as part of a broader topographical, rural, urban, or monumental context. An archaeological excavation typically takes place in a predefined geographic area specifically defined after an investigation campaign or based on interpretation of sources, or evidenced by a different activity (such as: preparatory works for urban construction, rescue archaeology and similar) and is carried out according with specific authorisations provided by a competent authority. A specific identifier for each archaeological excavation is usually assigned by the same authority. The set of activities is not limited to matter removals but also comprises siblings activities, happening throughout the whole process, intended for observation and/or consolidation of the excavated strata. The archaeological excavation is usually under the responsibility of a coordinator, officially designated, which is legally and scientifically responsible for all the activities carried out within each of the excavation process units and is also responsible for the documentation of the whole process.
subclass of: Observation

CRM Entity
type: Class
notation: E1
comment: This class comprises all things in the universe of discourse of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model. It is an abstract concept providing for three general properties: Identification by name or appellation, and in particular by a preferred identifier Classification by type, allowing further refinement of the specific subclass an instance belongs to Attachment of free text for the expression of anything not captured by formal properties With the exception of E59 Primitive Value, all other classes within the CRM are directly or indirectly specialisations of E1 CRM Entity.
subclass of: Thing

Temporal Entity
type: Class
notation: E2
comment: This class comprises all phenomena, such as the instances of E4 Periods, E5 Events and states, which happen over a limited extent in time. This extent in time must be contiguous, i.e., without gaps. In case the defining kinds of phenomena for an instance of E2 Temporal Entity cease to happen, and occur later again at another time, we regard that the former E2 Temporal Entity has ended and a new instance has come into existence. In more intuitive terms, the same event cannot happen twice. In some contexts, these are also called perdurants. This class is disjoint from E77 Persistent Item. This is an abstract class and has no direct instances. E2 Temporal Entity is specialized into E4 Period, which applies to a particular geographic area (defined with a greater or lesser degree of precision), and E3 Condition State, which applies to instances of E18 Physical Thing.
subclass of: CRM Entity
subclass of: Observable Entity

Period
type: Class
notation: E4
comment: This class comprises sets of coherent phenomena or cultural manifestations occurring in time and space. It is the social or physical coherence of these phenomena that identify an E4 Period and not the associated spatiotemporal extent. This extent is only the "ground" or space in an abstract physical sense that the actual process of growth, spread and retreat has covered. Consequently, different periods can overlap and coexist in time and space, such as when a nomadic culture exists in the same area and time as a sedentary culture. This also means that overlapping land use rights, common among first nations, amounts to overlapping periods. Often, this class is used to describe prehistoric or historic periods such as the "Neolithic Period", the "Ming Dynasty" or the "McCarthy Era", but also geopolitical units and activities of settlements are regarded as special cases of E4 Period. However, there are no assumptions about the scale of the associated phenomena. In particular all events are seen as synthetic processes consisting of coherent phenomena. Therefore E4 Period is a superclass of E5 Event. For example, a modern clinical E67 Birth can be seen as both an atomic E5 Event and as an E4 Period that consists of multiple activities performed by multiple instances of E39 Actor. As the actual extent of an E4 Period in spacetime we regard the trajectories of the participating physical things during their participation in an instance of E4 Period. This includes the open spaces via which these things have interacted and the spaces by which they had the potential to interact during that period or event in the way defined by the type of the respective period or event. Examples include the air in a meeting room transferring the voices of the participants. Since these phenomena are fuzzy, we assume the spatiotemporal extent to be contiguous, except for cases of phenomena spreading out over islands or other separated areas, including geopolitical units distributed over disconnec…
subclass of: Temporal Entity
subclass of: Spacetime Volume

Event
type: Class
notation: E5
comment: This class comprises changes of states in cultural, social or physical systems, regardless of scale, brought about by a series or group of coherent physical, cultural, technological or legal phenomena. Such changes of state will affect instances of E77 Persistent Item or its subclasses. The distinction between an E5 Event and an E4 Period is partly a question of the scale of observation. Viewed at a coarse level of detail, an E5 Event is an ‘instantaneous’ change of state. At a fine level, the E5 Event can be analysed into its component phenomena within a space and time frame, and as such can be seen as an E4 Period. The reverse is not necessarily the case: not all instances of E4 Period give rise to a noteworthy change of state.
subclass of: Period

Destruction
type: Class
notation: E6
comment: This class comprises events that destroy one or more instances of E18 Physical Thing such that they lose their identity as the subjects of documentation. Some destruction events are intentional, while others are independent of human activity. Intentional destruction may be documented by classifying the event as both an E6 Destruction and E7 Activity. The decision to document an object as destroyed, transformed or modified is context sensitive: If the matter remaining from the destruction is not documented, the event is modelled solely as E6 Destruction. An event should also be documented using E81 Transformation if it results in the destruction of one or more objects and the simultaneous production of others using parts or material from the original. In this case, the new items have separate identities. Matter is preserved, but identity is not. When the initial identity of the changed instance of E18 Physical Thing is preserved, the event should be documented as E11 Modification.
subclass of: End of Existence

Activity
type: Class
notation: E7
comment: This class comprises actions intentionally carried out by instances of E39 Actor that result in changes of state in the cultural, social, or physical systems documented. This notion includes complex, composite and long-lasting actions such as the building of a settlement or a war, as well as simple, short-lived actions such as the opening of a door.
subclass of: Event

Attribute Assignment
type: Class
notation: E13
comment: This class comprises the actions of making assertions about properties of an object or any relation between two items or concepts. This class allows the documentation of how the respective assignment came about, and whose opinion it was. All the attributes or properties assigned in such an action can also be seen as directly attached to the respective item or concept, possibly as a collection of contradictory values. All cases of properties in this model that are also described indirectly through an action are characterised as "short cuts" of this action. This redundant modelling of two alternative views is preferred because many implementations may have good reasons to model either the action or the short cut, and the relation between both alternatives can be captured by simple rules. In particular, the class describes the actions of people making propositions and statements during certain museum procedures, e.g. the person and date when a condition statement was made, an identifier was assigned, the museum object was measured, etc. Which kinds of such assignments and statements need to be documented explicitly in structures of a schema rather than free text, depends on if this information should be accessible by structured queries.
subclass of: Activity

Physical Thing
type: Class
notation: E18
comment: This class comprises all persistent physical items with a relatively stable form, man-made or natural. Depending on the existence of natural boundaries of such things, the CRM distinguishes the instances of E19 Physical Object from instances of E26 Physical Feature, such as holes, rivers, pieces of land etc. Most instances of E19 Physical Object can be moved (if not too heavy), whereas features are integral to the surrounding matter. An instance of E18 Physical Thing occupies not only a particular geometric space, but in the course of its existence it also forms a trajectory through spacetime, which occupies a real, that is phenomenal, volume in spacetime. We include in the occupied space the space filled by the matter of the physical thing and all its inner spaces, such as the interior of a box. Physical things consisting of aggregations of physically unconnected objects, such as a set of chessmen, occupy a number of individually contiguous spacetime volumes equal to the number of unconnected objects that constitute the set. We model E18 Physical Thing to be a subclass of E72 Legal Object and of E92 Spacetime volume. The latter is intended as a phenomenal spacetime volume as defined in CRMgeo (Doerr and Hiebel 2013). By virtue of this multiple inheritance we can discuss the physical extent of an E18 Physical Thing without representing each instance of it together with an instance of its associated spacetime volume. This model combines two quite different kinds of substance: an instance of E18 Physical Thing is matter while a spacetime volume is an aggregation of points in spacetime. However, the real spatiotemporal extent of an instance of E18 Physical Thing is regarded to be unique to it, due to all its details and fuzziness; its identity and existence depends uniquely on the identity of the instance of E18 Physical Thing. Therefore this multiple inheritance is unambiguous and effective and furthermore corresponds to the intuitions of natural language. The CIDOC C…
subclass of: Legal Object
subclass of: Spacetime Volume
subclass of: Material Substantial

Physical Feature
type: Class
notation: E26
comment: This class comprises identifiable features that are physically attached in an integral way to particular physical objects. Instances of E26 Physical Feature share many of the attributes of instances of E19 Physical Object. They may have a one-, two- or three-dimensional geometric extent, but there are no natural borders that separate them completely in an objective way from the carrier objects. For example, a doorway is a feature but the door itself, being attached by hinges, is not. Instances of E26 Physical Feature can be features in a narrower sense, such as scratches, holes, reliefs, surface colours, reflection zones in an opal crystal or a density change in a piece of wood. In the wider sense, they are portions of particular objects with partially imaginary borders, such as the core of the Earth, an area of property on the surface of the Earth, a landscape or the head of a contiguous marble statue. They can be measured and dated, and it is sometimes possible to state who or what is or was responsible for them. They cannot be separated from the carrier object, but a segment of the carrier object may be identified (or sometimes removed) carrying the complete feature. This definition coincides with the definition of "fiat objects" (Smith Varzi, 2000, pp.401-420), with the exception of aggregates of “bona fide objects”.
subclass of: Physical Thing

Site
type: Class
notation: E27
comment: This class comprises pieces of land or sea floor. In contrast to the purely geometric notion of E53 Place, this class describes constellations of matter on the surface of the Earth or other celestial body, which can be represented by photographs, paintings and maps. Instances of E27 Site are composed of relatively immobile material items and features in a particular configuration at a particular location
subclass of: Physical Feature

Place
type: Class
notation: E53
comment: This class comprises extents in space, in particular on the surface of the earth, in the pure sense of physics: independent from temporal phenomena and matter. The instances of E53 Place are usually determined by reference to the position of “immobile” objects such as buildings, cities, mountains, rivers, or dedicated geodetic marks. A Place can be determined by combining a frame of reference and a location with respect to this frame. It may be identified by one or more instances of E44 Place Appellation. It is sometimes argued that instances of E53 Place are best identified by global coordinates or absolute reference systems. However, relative references are often more relevant in the context of cultural documentation and tend to be more precise. In particular, we are often interested in position in relation to large, mobile objects, such as ships. For example, the Place at which Nelson died is known with reference to a large mobile object – H.M.S Victory. A resolution of this Place in terms of absolute coordinates would require knowledge of the movements of the vessel and the precise time of death, either of which may be revised, and the result would lack historical and cultural relevance. Any object can serve as a frame of reference for E53 Place determination. The model foresees the notion of a "section" of an E19 Physical Object as a valid E53 Place determination.
subclass of: CRM Entity

Beginning of Existence
type: Class
notation: E63
comment: This class comprises events that bring into existence any E77 Persistent Item. It may be used for temporal reasoning about things (intellectual products, physical items, groups of people, living beings) beginning to exist; it serves as a hook for determination of a terminus post quem and ante quem.
subclass of: Event

End of Existence
type: Class
notation: E64
comment: This class comprises events that end the existence of any E77 Persistent Item. It may be used for temporal reasoning about things (physical items, groups of people, living beings) ceasing to exist; it serves as a hook for determination of a terminus postquem and antequem. In cases where substance from a Persistent Item continues to exist in a new form, the process would be documented by E81 Transformation.
subclass of: Event

Thing
type: Class
notation: E70
comment: This general class comprises discrete, identifiable, instances of E77 Persistent Item that are documented as single units, that either consist of matter or depend on being carried by matter and are characterized by relative stability. They may be intellectual products or physical things. They may for instance have a solid physical form, an electronic encoding, or they may be a logical concept or structure.
subclass of: Persistent Item

Legal Object
type: Class
notation: E72
comment: This class comprises those material or immaterial items to which instances of E30 Right, such as the right of ownership or use, can be applied. This is true for all E18 Physical Thing. In the case of instances of E28 Conceptual Object, however, the identity of the E28 Conceptual Object or the method of its use may be too ambiguous to reliably establish instances of E30 Right, as in the case of taxa and inspirations. Ownership of corporations is currently regarded as out of scope of the CRM.
subclass of: Thing

Persistent Item
type: Class
notation: E77
comment: This class comprises items that have a persistent identity, sometimes known as “endurants” in philosophy. They can be repeatedly recognized within the duration of their existence by identity criteria rather than by continuity or observation. Persistent Items can be either physical entities, such as people, animals or things, or conceptual entities such as ideas, concepts, products of the imagination or common names. The criteria that determine the identity of an item are often difficult to establish -; the decision depends largely on the judgement of the observer. For example, a building is regarded as no longer existing if it is dismantled and the materials reused in a different configuration. On the other hand, human beings go through radical and profound changes during their life-span, affecting both material composition and form, yet preserve their identity by other criteria. Similarly, inanimate objects may be subject to exchange of parts and matter. The class E77 Persistent Item does not take any position about the nature of the applicable identity criteria and if actual knowledge about identity of an instance of this class exists. There may be cases, where the identity of an E77 Persistent Item is not decidable by a certain state of knowledge.The main classes of objects that fall outside the scope the E77 Persistent Item class are temporal objects such as periods, events and acts, and descriptive properties.
subclass of: CRM Entity
subclass of: Observable Entity

Spacetime Volume
type: Class
notation: E92
comment: This class comprises 4 dimensional point sets (volumes) in physical spacetime regardless its true geometric form. They may derive their identity from being the extent of a material phenomenon or from being the interpretation of an expression defining an extent in spacetime. Intersections of instances of E92 Spacetime Volume, Place and Timespan are also regarded as instances of E92 Spacetime Volume. An instance of E92 Spacetime Volume is either contiguous or composed of a finite number of contiguous subsets. Its boundaries may be fuzzy due to the properties of the phenomena it derives from or due to the limited precision up to which defining expression can be identified with a real extent in spacetime. The duration of existence of an instance of a spacetime volume is trivially its projection on time.
subclass of: CRM Entity

Observation
type: Class
notation: S4
comment: This class comprises the activity of gaining scientific knowledge about particular states of physical reality gained by empirical evidence, experiments and by measurements. We define observation in the sense of natural sciences, as a kind of human activity: at some Place and within some Time-Span, certain Physical Things and their behavior and interactions are observed, either directly by human sensory impression, or enhanced with tools and measurement devices. The output of the internal processes of measurement devices that do not require additional human interaction are in general regarded as part of the observation and not as additional inference. Manual recordings may serve as additional evidence. Measurements and witnessing of events are special cases of observations. Observations result in a belief about certain propositions. In this model, the degree of confidence in the observed properties is regarded to be “true” per default, but could be described differently by adding a property P3 has note to an instance of S4 Observation, or by reification of the property O16 observed value. Primary data from measurement devices are regarded in this model to be results of observation and can be interpreted as propositions believed to be true within the (known) tolerances and degree of reliability of the device. Observations represent the transition between reality and propositions in the form of instances of a formal ontology, and can be subject to data evaluation from this point on.
subclass of: Attribute Assignment

Material Substantial
type: Class
notation: S10
comment: This class comprises constellations of matter with a relative stability of any form sufficient to associate them with a persistent identity, such as being confined to certain extent, having a relative stability of form or structure, or containing a fixed amount of matter. In particular, it comprises physical things in the narrower sense and fluid bodies. It is an abstraction of physical substance for solid and non-solid things of matter.
subclass of: Thing

Amount of Matter
type: Class
notation: S11
comment: This class comprises fixed amounts of matter specified as some air, some water, some soil, etc., defined by the total and integrity of their material content.
subclass of: Material Substantial

Observable Entity
type: Class
notation: S15
comment: This class comprises instances of E2 Temporal Entity or E77 Persistent Item, i.e. items or phenomena that can be observed, either directly by human sensory impression, or enhanced with tools and measurement devices, such as physical things, their behavior, states and interactions or events. Conceptual objects can be present in events by their carriers such as books, digital media, or even human memory. By virtue of this presence, properties of conceptual objects, such as number of words can be observed on their carriers. If the respective properties between carriers differ, either they carry different instances of conceptual objects or the difference can be attributed to accidental deficiencies in one of the carriers. In that sense even immaterial objects are observable. By this model we give credit to the fact that frequently, the actually observed carriers of conceptual objects are not explicitly identified in documentation, i.e., the actual carrier is assumed having existed but is unknown as an individual.
subclass of: CRM Entity

Physical Genesis
type: Class
notation: S17
comment: This class comprises events or processes that result in (generate) physical things, man-made or natural, coming into being in the form by which they are later identified. The creation of a new physical item, at the same time, can be a result of an alteration (modification) – it can become a new thing due to an alteration activity.
subclass of: Beginning of Existence
subclass of: Alteration

Alteration
type: Class
notation: S18
comment: This class comprises natural events or man-made processes that create, alter or change physical things, by affecting permanently their form or consistency without changing their identity. Examples include alterations on depositional features-layers by natural factors or disturbance by roots or insects, organic alterations, petrification, etc.
subclass of: Event

Encounter Event
type: Class
notation: S19
comment: This class comprises activities of S4 Observation (substance) where an E39 Actor encounters an instance of E18 Physical Thing of a kind relevant for the mission of the observation or regarded as potentially relevant for some community (identity). This observation produces knowledge about the existence of the respective thing at a particular place in or on surrounding matter. This knowledge may be new to the group of people the actor belongs to. In that case we would talk about a discovery. The observer may recognize or assign an individual identity of the thing encountered or regard only the type as noteworthy in the associated documentation or report. In archaeology there is a particular interest if an object is found “in situ”, i.e. if its embedding in the surrounding matter supports the assumption that the object was not moved since the archaeologically relevant deposition event. The surrounding matter with the relative position of the object in it as well as the absolute position and time of the observation may be recorded in order to enable inferences about the history of the E18 Physical Thing. In Biology, additional parameters may be recorded like the kind of ecosystem, if the biological individual survives the observation, what detection or catching devices have been used or if the encounter event supported the detection of a new biological kind (“taxon”).
subclass of: Observation

Physical Feature
type: Class
notation: S20
comment: This class comprises identifiable features that are physically attached in an integral way to particular physical objects. An instance of S20 Physical Feature also represents the place it occupies with respect to the surrounding matter. More precisely, it is the maximal real volume in space that an instance of S20 Physical Feature is occupying during its lifetime with respect to the default reference space relative to which the feature is at rest. In cases of features on or in the surface of earth, the default reference is typically fixed to the closer environment of the tectonic plate or sea floor. In cases of features on mobile objects, the reference space is typically fixed to the geometry of the bearing object. Instances of E26 Physical Feature share many of the attributes of instances of E19 Physical Object. They may have a one-, two- or three-dimensional geometric extent, but there are no natural borders that separate them completely in an objective way from the carrier objects. For example, a doorway is a feature but the door itself, being attached by hinges, is not. Instances of E26 Physical Feature can be features in a narrower sense, such as scratches, holes, reliefs, surface colors, reflection zones in an opal crystal or a density change in a piece of wood. In the wider sense, they are portions of particular objects with partially imaginary borders, such as the core of the Earth, an area of property on the surface of the Earth, a landscape or the head of a contiguous marble statue. They can be measured and dated, and it is sometimes possible to state who or what is or was responsible for them. They cannot be separated from the carrier object, but a segment of the carrier object may be identified (or sometimes removed) carrying the complete feature. This definition coincides with the definition of "fiat objects" (Smith and Varzi, 2000, pp.401-420), with the exception of aggregates of “bona fide objects”.
subclass of: Physical Thing
subclass of: Place

Segment of Matter
type: Class
notation: S22
comment: This class comprises physical material in a relative stability of form (substance) within a specific spacetime volume (unity, extend). The spatial extend of a S22 Segment of Matter is defined by humans usually because the constellation is subject to a specific interest for and investigations of the geometric arrangement of physical features or parts of them on or within the specified S22 Segment of Matter. It comes into existence as being an object of discourse through S4 Observation or declaration and is restricted to the time span starting after the last change through an S18 Alteration before the S4 Observation or declaration and ending with the next S18 Alteration Event (identity). A S22 Segment of Matter exists as long as there is no modification of the geometric arrangement of its particles. Therefore the temporal boundaries of the defining Spacetime Volume are given by two S18 Alteration events. The history of a S22 Segment of Matter started with the first S17 Physical Genesis event that deposited still existing matter within the defined spatial extend. The collection of all S18 Alteration events represent its history. Some of the events will not leave any physical material within the S22 Segment of Matter. (to be elaborated further)
subclass of: Physical Feature

Thing
type: Class
notation: Thing
comment: The class of OWL individuals.

produced
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Amount of Matter
comment: This property identifies the S11 Amount of Matter, e.g. a basket, that is preserved (part or total of) from an A1 Excavation Process Unit for further examination or evidence keeping
domain:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit

discarded into
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Amount of Matter
comment: This property identifies the S11 Amount of Matter (e.g. a heap) into which material from an A1 Excavation Process Unit is discarded
domain:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit

excavated
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Place
comment: This property identifies the 3D excavated volume instance of E53 Place, i.e., a three-dimensional volume, that was actually excavated during an A1 Excavation Process Unit.
domain:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit

produced surface
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Physical Feature
comment: This property identifies the instance of S20 Physical Feature that constitutes the new surface produced during an A1 Excavation Process Unit in the excavated area. Frequently this surface or parts of it are documented through drawing and/or measured by technical means such as photography, tachymetry or laser scanning.
domain:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit

removed part or all of
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
comment: This property identifies the instance of A8 Stratigraphic Unit that was cut during an A1 Excavation Process Unit.
domain:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit

intended to approximate
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface
comment: This property identifies the A3 Stratigraphic Interface that was intended to approximate during an A1 Excavation Process Unit. This property should be assigned when a stratigraphic excavation methodology is used. It enables the linkage of the surface produced by an A1 Excavation Process Unit and an A3 Stratigraphic Interface.
domain:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
sub property of: observed

produced
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface
comment: This property identifies the A8 Stratigraphic Unit that was produced during an A4 Stratigraphic Genesis Event.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Genesis
sub property of: generated

disturbed
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface
comment: This property identifies an A8 Stratigraphic Unit that was disturbed through an A5 Stratigraphic Modification. One A5 Stratigraphic Modification may disturb several A8 Stratigraphic Units.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Genesis

took matter from
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Material Substantial
comment: This property identifies the S10 Material Substantial from where matter was taken from during an A4 Stratigraphic Genesis Event.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Genesis

destroyed
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Segment of Matter
domain:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
sub property of: destroyed

has physical relation
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
comment: This property identifies the physical relationship between two A8 Stratigraphic Units. The type of physical relationships found between stratigraphic units in archaeological documentation is documented through the property AP 11.1 has type.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit

confines
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Volume Unit
comment: This property identifies partly or completely the surface (A3 Stratigraphic Interface) of an A2 Stratigraphic Volume Unit. One A3 Stratigraphic Interface may confine two or more A2 Stratigraphic Volume Units.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface

has stratigraphic relation
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
comment: This property identifies the stratigraphic relation between two A5 Stratigraphic modification events. This relation may be inferenced from the kind of physical relation that exists between the two AP 8 Stratigraphic Units that have been created or modified during the corresponding A5 Stratigraphic Modification events. The type of stratigraphic relationships in archaeological documentation assigned to two A5 Stratigraphic Modification events is documented through the property AP 13.1 has type.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit

is or contains remains of
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Physical Thing
comment: This property associates an E18 Physical Thing that is found within an A8 Stratigraphic Unit with the stratigraphic unit. This property is a shortcut for the fully articulated path from E18 Physical Thing through A7 Embedding to A8 Stratigraphic Unit.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit

assigned attribute to
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
comment: This property indicates the Stratigraphic Unit that was assigned by an A6 Group Declaration Event.
domain:
  ressource: Group Declaration Event
sub property of: assigned attribute to

is found by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Encounter Event
comment: This property associates an instance of S19 Encounter Eventwith an instance of A7 Embedding that has been found during this even.
domain:
  ressource: Embedding

is embedding of
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Physical Thing
comment: This property identifies the E18 Physical Thing that is contained in an A7 Embedding.
domain:
  ressource: Embedding

is embedding in
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Volume Unit
comment: This property identifies the A2 Stratigraphic Volume Unit that contains the A7 Embedding.
domain:
  ressource: Embedding

is embedding at
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Place
comment: This property identifies the E53 Place that is documented as the E53 Place of the A7 Embedding.
domain:
  ressource: Embedding

observed
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Observable Entity
comment: This property associates an instance of S4 Observation with an instance of S15 Observable Entity that was observed. Specifically it describes that a thing, a feature, a phenomenon or its reaction is observed by an activity of Observation.
domain:
  ressource: Observation
sub property of: assigned attribute to

generated
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Physical Thing
comment: This property associates an instance of S17 Physical Genesis event with an instance of E18 Physical Thing that the event generated.
domain:
  ressource: Physical Genesis

destroyed
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Physical Thing
comment: This property allows specific instances of E18 Physical Thing that have been destroyed to be related to a destruction event.Destruction implies the end of an item’s life as a subject of cultural documentation – the physical matter of which the item was composed may in fact continue to exist. A destruction event may be contiguous with a Production that brings into existence a derived object composed partly of matter from the destroyed object.
domain:
  ressource: Destruction

assigned attribute to
type: Property
range:
  ressource: CRM Entity
comment: This property indicates the item to which an attribute or relation is assigned.
domain:
  ressource: Attribute Assignment

was produced by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the S11 Amount of Matter, e.g. a basket, that is preserved (part or total of) from an A1 Excavation Process Unit for further examination or evidence keeping
domain:
  ressource: Amount of Matter

was discarded by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the S11 Amount of Matter (e.g. a heap) into which material from an A1 Excavation Process Unit is discarded
domain:
  ressource: Amount of Matter

was excavated by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the 3D excavated volume instance of E53 Place, i.e., a three-dimensional volume, that was actually excavated during an A1 Excavation Process Unit.
domain:
  ressource: Place

was surface produced by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the instance of S20 Physical Feature that constitutes the new surface produced during an A1 Excavation Process Unit in the excavated area. Frequently this surface or parts of it are documented through drawing and/or measured by technical means such as photography, tachymetry or laser scanning.
domain:
  ressource: Physical Feature

was partially or totally removed by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the instance of A8 Stratigraphic Unit that was cut during an A1 Excavation Process Unit.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit

was approximated by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the A3 Stratigraphic Interface that was intended to approximate during an A1 Excavation Process Unit. This property should be assigned when a stratigraphic excavation methodology is used. It enables the linkage of the surface produced by an A1 Excavation Process Unit and an A3 Stratigraphic Interface.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface
sub property of: was observed by

was produced by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Genesis
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the A8 Stratigraphic Unit that was produced during an A4 Stratigraphic Genesis Event.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface
sub property of: was generated by

was disturbed by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Genesis
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies an A8 Stratigraphic Unit that was disturbed through an A5 Stratigraphic Modification. One A5 Stratigraphic Modification may disturb several A8 Stratigraphic Units.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface

provided matter to
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Genesis
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the S10 Material Substantial from where matter was taken from during an A4 Stratigraphic Genesis Event.
domain:
  ressource: Material Substantial

was destroyed by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Excavation Process Unit
domain:
  ressource: Segment of Matter
sub property of: was destroyed by

is physical relation of
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the physical relationship between two A8 Stratigraphic Units. The type of physical relationships found between stratigraphic units in archaeological documentation is documented through the property AP 11.1 has type.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit

is confined by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Interface
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies partly or completely the surface (A3 Stratigraphic Interface) of an A2 Stratigraphic Volume Unit. One A3 Stratigraphic Interface may confine two or more A2 Stratigraphic Volume Units.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Volume Unit

is stratigraphic relation of
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the stratigraphic relation between two A5 Stratigraphic modification events. This relation may be inferenced from the kind of physical relation that exists between the two AP 8 Stratigraphic Units that have been created or modified during the corresponding A5 Stratigraphic Modification events. The type of stratigraphic relationships in archaeological documentation assigned to two A5 Stratigraphic Modification events is documented through the property AP 13.1 has type.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit

is or has remains contained in
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property associates an E18 Physical Thing that is found within an A8 Stratigraphic Unit with the stratigraphic unit. This property is a shortcut for the fully articulated path from E18 Physical Thing through A7 Embedding to A8 Stratigraphic Unit.
domain:
  ressource: Physical Thing

was attributed by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Group Declaration Event
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property indicates the Stratigraphic Unit that was assigned by an A6 Group Declaration Event.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Unit
sub property of: was attributed by

found
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Embedding
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property associates an instance of S19 Encounter Eventwith an instance of A7 Embedding that has been found during this even.
domain:
  ressource: Encounter Event

is embedded
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Embedding
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the E18 Physical Thing that is contained in an A7 Embedding.
domain:
  ressource: Physical Thing

contains embedding
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Embedding
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the A2 Stratigraphic Volume Unit that contains the A7 Embedding.
domain:
  ressource: Stratigraphic Volume Unit

contains
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Embedding
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property identifies the E53 Place that is documented as the E53 Place of the A7 Embedding.
domain:
  ressource: Place

was observed by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Observation
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property associates an instance of S4 Observation with an instance of S15 Observable Entity that was observed. Specifically it describes that a thing, a feature, a phenomenon or its reaction is observed by an activity of Observation.
domain:
  ressource: Observable Entity
sub property of: was attributed by

was generated by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Physical Genesis
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property associates an instance of S17 Physical Genesis event with an instance of E18 Physical Thing that the event generated.
domain:
  ressource: Physical Thing

was destroyed by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Destruction
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property allows specific instances of E18 Physical Thing that have been destroyed to be related to a destruction event.Destruction implies the end of an item’s life as a subject of cultural documentation – the physical matter of which the item was composed may in fact continue to exist. A destruction event may be contiguous with a Production that brings into existence a derived object composed partly of matter from the destroyed object.
domain:
  ressource: Physical Thing

was attributed by
type: Property
range:
  ressource: Attribute Assignment
comment: This property is the inverse of the forward property described in the scope note that follows. This property indicates the item to which an attribute or relation is assigned.
domain:
  ressource: CRM Entity