Semantic Generalization and Semantic Specialization in Archaeology

The semantic generalization and the semantic specialization have been proposed. These enable a shape graph, which corresponds to a relation schema in the relational data model, to have elements which are different from those of the original shape graphs, but are semantically related to them. To this end, viewpoints and relationship lattices have been introduced as the lattices of concepts and relationships. The semantically generalized (specialized, respectively) element is a common ancestor (descendant) of the original ones in a viewpoint or relationship lattice. Semantically generalized and specialized elements are specified by users. This paper discusses the usage of semantic generalization and semantic specialization in archaeology. Their usages are shown by using examples. It is shown that the semantic generalization and the semantic specialization are useful in managing and representing the archaeological data.