Graves Ontology Specification - 1.0 - Halloween Edition

An ontology to markup information on human remains, graves, cemeteries, monuments and cenotaphs.

Working Draft — 31 October 2012

This version:
http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves-20121031.html (owl)
Latest version:
http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves.html (owl)
Previous version:
http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves-20120118.html (owl)
Last Update: 1.0
Date: 31 October 2012
Authors:
Robert Warren, The Muninn Project
Contributors:
Mary Jackes, Department of Anthropology, University of Waterloo

Abstract

This specification defines a set of classes and properties that structure information about human remains.

Status of this Document

This document is a standard that was developed after some conversations at the LODLAM meeting in San Francisco and the email exchanges that followed. While minor modifications will be made over time, this ontology should be mature.

Comments are welcome at data@muninn-project.org.

Table of Contents


1. Introduction

This project was created as a result of some of the data and modelling problems encountered in the Muninn WW1 Project with respects to the treatment of the remains of soldiers on the battlefield. The Great War was one of the first conflicts where an attempt was made to locate the final resting places of soldiers killed on the battlefield. The scope of the conflict was such that the registration and management of graves and cemeteries required (in the experience of the British Empire) the creation of a commission whose work is still ongoing in 2011.

The modelling of the processes of death, burial, re-interment as well of the erection of various monuments, markers and cenotaph became too complex for simple event-style data structures. Furthermore, a portable ontology unrelated to the original project goals became desirable to develop simple linkages to other projects.

Namespaces used within the examples

The following name spaces are used within the rdf examples within this documentation:

NamespaceurlName
http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/organization#orgCivilian Organizations(FOAF Subclasses)
http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/military#milMilitary Ontology(FOAF Subclasses)
http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/foafFriend of a Friend
http://dbpedia.org/resource/dbpediaDBpedia.org
http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/dcDublin Core
http://iptc.org/std/rNews/2011-10-07#rnewsIPTC Rnews Markup
http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#geoW3 Geolocation Markup
http://www.geonames.org/ontologygnGeonames Ontology

2. New in this version

The 1.0 version of this ontology has been updated with some new classes related to war graves, military cemeteries and ship wrecks. A new hasState property has been added that can record the state of the monument (built, ruined, destroyed) and in conjunction with the next_instance, previous_instances can be used to record lightweight events occurring to monuments. A startDate and endDate were also added to record construction or observation date.

A number of properties were deprecated and can be cross referenced here here, the ontology provides appropriate equivalences mapping for all deprecated properties or classes.

An update sparql (1.0) script is provided to update deprecated items from the previous version whenever possible, you'll need to add your graph names to the script to keep your database consistent. Be sure to check the script before you run it.

3. Ontology objectives and limitations

The initial design objectives for the ontology were:

  1. The ability to markup simple grave information without excessive overhead.
  2. Provide a framework to reference graves, cemeteries and remains within other data-sets.
  3. Enable a data provider to explicitly mark grave location information as being obfuscated for privacy reasons, as in the case of an active archaeological dig on private property.
  4. Provide an ontological structure that has the necessary hooks for future reasoning.
  5. Identity can be referenced both through the monument commemoration or through the remains in the grave. This provides a convenient means of dealing with misidentified corpses.
  6. Enable the use of tombstones and memorials as a data integration point for individuals referenced in different data sets.

A number of issues and corner cases aren't currently addressed.

  1. The orientation of the remains within a grave is not currently recorded.
  2. Grave location represents a difficulty is that there is no unified standard for archaeological digs and cemetery plots. Assigning basic longitude and latitude is possible through the hasLocation sub properties but it may be desirable to record the native grid coordinates through the use of an hasLocation property with a string. An additional property hasMap exists to provide a reference to an image of the cemetery map or computer readable coordinate system class.
  3. Remains can be marked as being partial, where less than the complete skeleton is present within the grave. This deals neatly with mass graves but does not document what was actually found in the grave. A complete forensic description is beyond the scope of this ontology.

4. Basic ontological constructs

The philosophy of the graves ontology is to provide a basic set of classes that represent most of the information necessary to identify a grave of interest and describe its physical location.

Graves makes use of the OWL ontological markup and has four basic groups of objects: cemeteries and/or archaeological digs, graves, remains (skeletons or ashes) and monuments.

Click for a large plot of classes, instances and properties

Cemeteries and archaeological digs are the primary location where graves and remains are to be found and the administrative unit that maintains them. Depending on the end application, these classes may be considered subclasses of geographical features, organizations or projects.

A grave is defined as a receptacle for human remains. Subclasses are used for cases of Empty Graves or Mass Graves.

Human remains are classes which deal with full skeletons, the partial remains of a human being (especially in the case of some arch digs) and their ashes after creation.

Lastly, most graves or death are commemorated in some way through the use of a Tombstone or some sort of Monument. In all cases, the ontology supports the description of the movement or rearrangement over time.

4.1. List of ontology terms:

Classes: Ashes, Burial_mound, Cemetery, Cenotaph, Churchyard, Container_for_human_remains, Crypt, Dead_people_place, Dig_site, EmptyGrave, Grave, Gravestone, Graveyard, Headstone, Mass_grave, Memorial, MilitaryCemetery, Monument, ObjectState, Ossuary, Partial_remains, Plaque, Remains, Sarcophagus, ShipWreck, Shrine, Skeleton, Statue, Tombstone, Tumulus, WarGrave,

Properties: atDepth, containsGrave, containsRemains, denomination, endDate, epitaph, graveContainedIn, hasBottomPart, hasCommemoration, hasEastFace, hasFrontFace, hasLocation, hasLocationObfuscated, hasMap, hasNorthFace, hasPart, hasRearFace, hasSouthFace, hasState, hasTopPart, hasWestFace, hisRemains, id, inscription, isBottomPartOf, isCommemorationOf, isEastFaceOf, isFrontFaceOf, isNorthFaceOf, isPartOf, isRearFaceOf, isRemainsOf, isSouthFaceOf, isTopPartOf, isWestFaceOf, monument_title, movedFrom, movedTo, remainsIn, siteName, startDate,

Instances: Abandoned, Burned, Demolished, Eliminated, Rebuilt, Ruins, Servicable, Unbuilt, UnServicable, Wrecked,

5. Ontology use cases

Use cases specific to Graves:

  1. Identify individuals not referenced in the official rolls through their commemoration on monuments.
  2. Provide hooks for the linkages of identity of individuals by referencing a specific artifact on which their name appears.
  3. Provide point of interest data in a format that permits faceted retrieval.
  4. When identity, location or any another item is unknown or ambiguous provide the hooks that allow for machine resolution of the ambiguity.

6. Examples

6.1. The grave of the Unknown Soldier, A Running Example

We start with a grave, with someone's remains in it. The urls are shortened to look pleasing.

the FOAF ontology to point to a picture of the grave.

    
  <graves:Grave rdf:about="The Specific Grave">
   <graves:hasLocation>C6</graves:hasLocation>
   <graves:containsRemains>
    <graves:Skeleton rdf:about="Those Specific Remains">
   </graves:containsRemains>
  </graves:Grave>

Next, we add the tombstone that was erected over the grave and record it inscription. We have a picture of the tombstone so we add a depiction of it.

    
<graves:Grave rdf:about="The Specific Grave">
 <graves:hasCommemoration>
  <graves:Tombstone rdf:about="The Specific Tombstone">
   <graves:inscription>A Canadian Soldier of the Great War</graves:inscription>
   <graves:epitaph>Known unto God</graves:epitaph>
   <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of the Tombstone"/>
  </graves:Tombstone> 
 </graves:hasCommemoration>
 <graves:containsRemains>
  <graves:Skeleton rdf:about="Those Specific Remains"/>
 </graves:containsRemains>
</graves:Grave>

Thus the grave contains a skeleton of an unknown Canadian soldier and has a tombstone marking it. Because we do not know the identity of the fallen soldier, it is not possible to put a name to the remains. However we can pro-actively create an instance of the person and add what we do know about this soldier to that reference. This would look like:

    
<graves:Grave rdf:about="The Specific Grave">
 <graves:hasCommemoration>
  <graves:Tombstone rdf:about="The Specific Tombstone">
   <graves:inscription>A Canadian Soldier of the Great War</graves:inscription>
   <graves:epitaph>Known unto God</graves:epitaph>
   <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of the Tombstone"/>
  </graves:Tombstone> 
 </graves:hasCommemoration>
 <graves:containsRemains>
  <graves:Skeleton rdf:about="Those Specific Remains">
   <graves:isRemainsOf>
    <mil:Soldier rdf:about="This Unknown Soldier">
     <mil:name>A unidentified soldier of the Great War</mil:name>
     <org:allegiance rdf:resource="Canada as it was in 1918"/>       
    </mil:Soldier>
   </graves:isRemainsOf>
  </graves:Skeleton> 
 </graves:containsRemains>
</graves:Grave>

We could have taken this example a little further and added that 1) the soldier should have been born at a minimum before 1902 (you would need to be 16 to look old enough to enlist) and 2) male (this *is* the first world war). Why is this important? Later on, this will allows anyone to reconcile their list of lost soldiers with our lost soldier because we are providing a unique identifier for that person (which someone else can reference) and providing other with what we know about them (e.g.: A German Red Cross Nurse missing in action from that period would obviously not be a match).

Lastly, the grave is contained within the Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery in France in location C6. The final markup for this example is thus:

    

<graves:MilitaryCemetery rdf:about="Givenchy Cemetery">
 <graves:siteName>Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery<graves:siteName>
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery (France)<rdfs:label>  
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about="Cemetery Location">
   <geo:lat>50.37599</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>2.76452</geo:long>
  <geo:Point>
 </graves:hasLocation>
 <graves:containsGrave>
  <graves:Grave rdf:about="The Specific Grave">
   <graves:hasLocation>C6</graves:hasLocation>
   <graves:hasCommemoration>
    <graves:Tombstone rdf:about="The Specific Tombstone">
     <graves:inscription>A Canadian Soldier of the Great War</graves:inscription>
     <graves:epitaph>Known unto God</graves:epitaph>
     <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of the Tombstone"/>
    </graves:Tombstone> 
   </graves:hasCommemoration>
   <graves:containsRemains>
    <graves:Skeleton rdf:about="Those Specific Remains">
    <graves:isRemainsOf>
     <mil:Soldier rdf:about="This Unknown Soldier">
      <mil:name>A unidentified soldier of the Great War</mil:name>
      <org:allegiance rdf:resource="Canada as it was in 1918"/>       
     </mil:Soldier>
    </graves:isRemainsOf>
   </graves:Skeleton> 
  </graves:containsRemains>
 </graves:Grave>
<graves:MilitaryCemetery> 

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

We can extend the rdf with some owl statements to encode more knowledge within the markup. Taking the previous example, we can restrict the potential identity of the remains within the grave to the set of soldiers that are known to be missing in action. The markup gets rather ugly in OWL for large collections of missing soldiers, but this is why we have a machine do it.

<graves:Grave rdf:about="The Specific Grave">
 <graves:hasLocation>C6</graves:hasLocation>
 <graves:hasCommemoration>
  <graves:Tombstone rdf:about="The Specific Tombstone">
   <graves:inscription>A Canadian Soldier of the Great War</graves:inscription>
   <graves:epitaph>Known unto God</graves:epitaph>
   <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of the Tombstone"/>
  </graves:Tombstone> 
 </graves:hasCommemoration>
 <graves:containsRemains>
  <graves:Skeleton rdf:about="Those Specific Remains">
   <graves:isRemainsOf<
    <mil:Soldier rdf:about="This Unknown Soldier"<
     <owl:oneOf rdf:parseType="Collection">
      <owl:Thing rdf:about="1st Soldier Missing in Action"/>
      <owl:Thing rdf:about="2nd Soldier Missing in Action"/>
      (...)
     </owl:oneOf>     
    </mil:Soldier>
   </graves:isRemainsOf>
  </graves:Skeleton> 
 </graves:containsRemains>
</graves:Grave>
      

6.2. A lone grave in the forest, A Simple Example

The simple grave on the banks of the river in northern Ontario, without cemetery or graveyard. The name of the person is partially known as well as the date of death, but we don't create a Person instance for him.

<graves:Grave rdf:about=" ... ">
 <!-- Cedar Lake -->
 <graves:hasLocation rdf:resource="Geonames Cedar Lake"/>
 <!-- Algonquin Park Boundaries--> 
 <graves:hasLocation rdf:resource="Geonames Algonquin Park "/>
 <graves:siteName>Grave of A. Corbeil</graves:siteName>
 <foaf:name>Grave of A. Corbeil</foaf:name>
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Grave of A. Corbeil (Algonquin Park, Canada)</rdfs:label>
 <!-- The actual location of the grave -->
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about=" Precise Lat and Long "> 
   <geo:lat>46.004756708462466</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>-78.4839677810669</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>
 </graves:hasLocation>Grave of A. Corbeil
 <!-- Grave has a wooden marker -->
 <graves:hasCommemoration>
  <graves:Tombstone rdf:about=" Thombstone instance">
   <graves:hasName>A Corbeil June 1 1888</graves:hasName>
   <graves:epitaph>IHS</graves:epitaph>
  </graves:Tombstone>
 </graves:hasCommemoration>  
 <graves:containsRemains> 
  <graves:Skeleton rdf:about=" Skeleton instance "/>
 </graves:containsRemains>               
 <documents:depiction rdf:resource=" Image of grave "/>    
</graves:Grave>
    

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

6.3. CIBC Waterloo Branch Plaque, Medium Example

After the Great War, the Canadian Bank of Commerce commissioned a book and a series of plaques to commemorate its employees that participated in the Great War. In 1961, the bank merged with the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Bank_of_Canada">Imperial Bank of Canada to form modern day Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

This particular plaque is now displayed at the Uptown Waterloo, Ontario CIBC branch. Interestingly, one of the soldiers listed Hubert George Hazelton does not appear in any of the Great War databases but is referenced in the Canadian Bank of Commerce "Letters from The Front", Volume 2, Page 194.

In the following markup, the rnews markup is used to records a North American style street and mailing address as well as a WGS84 longitude and latitude point.

 <graves:Plaque rdf:about=" 936318e7cf2a769ba1eea2b7ba5a6d0c ">
  <graves:siteName>CBC Waterloo Branch Great War Plaque</graves:siteName>
  <graves:inscription>IN MEMORY OF 1701 MEN OF THE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE 
  WHO SERVED IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 LT H G HAZELTON SGT C R KRANE SPR W R DIERLAMM 
  WATERLOO ONT BRANCH</graves:inscription>
  <graves:commemorates rdf:resource=" 426398_Charles_Robert_Kranz_CEF />
  <graves:commemorates rdf:resource=" 355071_Wilfred_R_Dierlamm_CEF  "/>
  <graves:commemorates rdf:resource=" 866b9bb7ef671b2a6a9afcec7079bf30 "/>
  <graves:hasLocation>
   <rnews:PostalAddress rdf:about=" c688267b00b90a6e69200cfa7bcef7b8 ">
    <foaf:name>Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce</foaf:name>
    <rnews:postalCode>N2J3Z6</rnews:postalCode>
    <rnews:streetAddress>27 King Street North</rnews:streetAddress>
    <rnews:telephone>+1-519-886-2960</rnews:telephone>
    <rnews:addressCountry rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/6251999/"/>
    <rnews:addressLocality rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/6176823/"/>
    <rnews:addressRegion rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/6093943/"/>
  </rnews:PostalAddress> 
 </graves:hasLocation>
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about=" ... ">
   <geo:lat>43.465883</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>-80.522788</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>  
 </graves:hasLocation>
  <documents:depiction rdf:resource=" ... "/>
</graves:Plaque>
    

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

CIBC Waterloo Branch Plaque - Image Markup

CIBC Waterloo Branch Plaque

There has been some discussion about the representation and markup of a monument surface to link certain elements to annotations and further RDF. The Graves ontology only deals with the monument in itself and the image of the monument is linked through a depiction property. Since most people mean to annotate an image for human consumption, the simplest way to do this it through html image maps and svg annotation. There have been attempts at that in the past, notably in the W3C Incubator Group and the Mindswap Image Annotator using the Image Region Ontology.

All of these tools rely so far on embedding svg markup into rdf. This is useful for directly producing an image in the style of the Figure below in that the svg can be superimposed over the image or converted into an html map. However, it is not possible to access the data from within the linked open data world.

The Linked Geo Data makes use of an approach based on rdf:Seq and rdf:li (see this example for the Soviet Cemetery in Weimar). This works in an rdf setting but not necessarily in an owl setting and needs further thinking.

Graves deals primarily with discrete aspects of monument annotation, such as (artistic) title, (place) name and inscription and epitaph. The simplest way to integrate an external annotation to the graves ontology is to repeatedly use the inscription property to link specific annotation instances to both the image instance of the monument and the Graves instance of the monument.

6.4. Soviet Cemetery in Weimar, A Complete Cemetery Example

The Soviet Military Cemetery is Weimar, Germany dates from the end of the Second World War. 3 men to hole in the ground, 6 men to a tombstone, the cemetery is an odd place frozen in time following the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the cold war. The grass is still cut, but the gas torch that used to blaze on the soviet monument has long been turned off. Some tombstones have a full inscription, some only a surname.

The cemetery contains several hundreds of graves and the rdf is fully materialized with inverse properties. Notice that the graves:hasFrontFace and graves:hasFrontFace properties were used to identify which side of the tombstone the inscriptions are inscribed on.

<graves:MilitaryCemetery rdf:about="Soviet Cemetery">
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Soviet Military Cemetary (Weimar, Germany)</rdfs:label>
 <owl:sameAs rdf:resource="http://linkedgeodata.org/triplify/way119212346"/>
 <foaf:name>Soviet Military Cemetary</foaf:name>
 <graves:denomination></graves:denomination>
 <graves:siteName>Soviet Military Cemetary</graves:siteName>
 <gn:locatedIn rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/2812482/"/>
 <graves:hasPart rdf:resource="Central Monument"/>
 <graves:hasPart rdf:resource="Cemetery Gate"/>
 <graves:containsGrave rdf:resource="БЕАКИН's Grave"/>
 <graves:containsGrave rdf:resource="ГРОМОВ's Grave"/>
 ( ... )
</graves:MilitaryCemetery>

<graves:Monument rdf:about="Central Monument">
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Soviet Cemetary Monument (Weimar, Germany)</rdfs:label>
 <rdfs:name>Soviet Cemetary Monument</rdfs:name>
 <graves:siteName>Monument to Soviet Soldiers buried in the Cemetary.</graves:siteName>
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Momument Picture"/>Central Monument
 <graves:hasLocation> <geo:Point rdf:about="Monument Location">
   <geo:lat>50.974984</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>11.332123</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>
 <graves:hasLocation>
 <graves:inscription xml:lang="en">ETERNAL GLORY TO THE HEROES 
 YEARS 1941 - 1945</graves:inscription>
 <graves:inscription xml:lang="ru">ВЕЧНАЯ СЛАВА ГЕРОЯМ 1941 - 1945 ГГ
 </graves:inscription>
 <gn:locatedIn rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/2812482/"/>
 <graves:isPartOf rdf:resource="Soviet Cemetery"/>
</<graves:Monument>

<graves:Monument rdf:about="Cemetery Gate">
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Soviet Cemetary Gate (Weimar, Germany)</rdfs:label>
 <foaf:name>Cemetary Gate</foaf:name>
 <graves:siteName xml:lang="en">Soviet Cemetary Gate</graves:siteName>
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of Gate 1"/>Cemetery Gate
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of Gate 2"/>
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about="Gate Location">
   <geo:lat>50.974903</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>11.331570</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>
 <graves:hasLocation>
 <gn:locatedIn rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/2812482/"/>
 <graves:isPartOf rdf:resource="Soviet Cemetery"/>
</<graves:Monument>

<graves:Tombstone rdf:about="Tombstone 1 Front">Tombstone Front
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of Front of Tombstone 1"/>
 <graves:hasRearFace rdf:resource="Tombstone 1 Back"/>
 <graves:inscription>ГРУНОВ 1901-1946 ДРОЗДОВ ФЕДОР 1916-1946 
 ЗУБКОВ НИКОЛАЙ 1920-1945</graves:inscription>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="ГРУНОВ's Grave"/>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="ДРОЗДОВ's Grave"/>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="ЗУБКОВ's Grave"/>
 <graves:isPartOf rdf:resource="Soviet Cemetery"/>
</graves:Tombstone>

<graves:Tombstone rdf:about="Tombstone 1 Back">
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of Back of Tombstone 1"/>Tombstone Back
 <graves:hasFrontFace rdf:resource="Tombstone 1 Front"/>
 <graves:inscription>БЕАКИН ВАСИПИЙ 1923-1945 ГРОМОВ СЕМЕН 1921-1945 
 ДОВИДЕН ПАВЕЛ 1920-1946</graves:inscription>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="БЕАКИН's Grave"/>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="ГРОМОВ's Grave"/>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="ДОВИДЕН's Grave"/>
 <graves:isPartOf rdf:resource="Soviet Cemetery"/>
</graves:Tombstone>

<graves:Graves rdf:about="БЕАКИН's Grave">
 <graves:hasCommemoration rdf:resource="Tombstone 1 Back"/>
 <graves:containsRemains rdf:resource="БЕАКИН's Remains"/>
 <graves:graveContainedIn rdf:resource="Soviet Cemetery"/>
</graves:Graves>

<graves:Skeleton rdf:about="БЕАКИН's Remains">
 <graves:isRemainsOf rdf:resource="Soldier БЕАКИН ВАСИПИЙ"/>
 <graves:remainsIn rdf:resource="БЕАКИН's Grave"/>
</graves:Skeleton>

<mil:Soldier rdf:about="Soldier БЕАКИН ВАСИПИЙ">
 <rdfs:label xml-lang="ru">БЕАКИН ВАСИПИЙ (Советский солдат, 1923-1945)"</rdfs:label>
 <rdfs:label xml-lang="en">BEAKIN VASIPY (Soviet Soldier, 1923-1945)"</rdfs:label>
 <mil:name xml-lang="ru">БЕАКИН ВАСИПИЙ"</mil:name>
 <mil:firstName xml-lang="ru">БЕАКИН"</mil:firstName>
 <mil:lastName xml-lang="ru">ВАСИПИЙ"</mil:lastName>
 <mil:allegiance rdf:resource="Dbpedia Soviet Union"/>
 <mil:birthday rdf:resource="БЕАКИН's Birth"/>
 <mil:deathday rdf:resource="БЕАКИН's Death"/>
 <graves:hisRemains rdf:resource="БЕАКИН's Remains"/>
</mil:Soldier>
(...)
  

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

6.5. The Canadian War Memorial, Disinterment Example.

The Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa would look like this and includes the grave of the unknown soldier. What makes this particular case interesting is that the remains in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers were transferred from a grave in the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in France. Notice that the provenance of the remains is recorded as well as the construction dates of the tomb and the Cenotaph.

<graves:Cenotaph rdf:about="The Cenotaph itself">
 <owl:sameAs rdf:resource="Dbpedia Instance/>
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of the Cenotaph"/>
 <!-- Should avoid characters like '(' that can be mangled by parsers in urls -->
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about="Cenotaph Location">
   <geo:lat>45.424036</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>-75.695497</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>
 </graves:hasLocation>
 <graves:siteName xml:lang="en">National War Memorial</graves:siteName>
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">National War Memorial (Canada)</rdfs:label>
 <graves:siteName xml:lang="fr">Monument commémoratif de guerre du Canada</graves:siteName>
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="fr">Monument commémoratif de guerre du Canada</rdfs:label>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="Great War"/>
 National War Memorial, Cenotaph
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="Korean War"/>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource="Second World War"/>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf>
  <foaf:Group rdf:about="Canadian Veterans">
   <foaf:name>Canadian War Veterans</foaf:name>
  </foaf:Group>
 </graves:isCommemorationOf>         
 <graves:hasPart>  
  <graves:Sarcophagus rdf:about="The Sarcophagus">
   <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of the Sarcophagus"/>
   <graves:siteName>Tomb of the Unknown Soldier<graves:siteName>
   <owl:sameAs rdf:resource="Dbpedia Instance"/>
   <graves:containsRemains>
    <graves:Skeleton rdf:about="Unknown Soldier's Remains">
     <graves:hisRemains>
      <graves:Soldier rdf:about="An Unknown Soldier">
       <foaf:name>An Unknown Canadian Soldier of the First World War</foaf:name>
      </graves:Soldier>
     </graves:hisRemains>
     <graves:movedFrom rdf:resource="Previous Resting Place"/>
    </graves:Skeleton>
   </graves:containsRemains>
  <graves:startDate rdf:datatype="Date">20000528</graves:startDate>
  </graves:Sarcophagus>
 </graves:hasPart>
 <graves:startDate rdf:datatype="Date">19381038</graves:startDate>
 <documents:createdBy rdf:resource="Designer"/>
</graves:Cenotaph>

Here we record that the grave containing the remains of the Unknown soldier has been removed and that remains were moved to the Sarcophagus. The markup for the original tombstone and the current one are not represented here.

<graves:Cemetery rdf:about="Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery">
 <graves:siteName>Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery</graves:siteName>
 <graves:containsGrave>
  <graves:WarGrave rdf:about="The Old Gravesite">
   <graves:hasLocation>Plot 8, Row E, Grave 7</graves:hasLocation>
   <graves:containsRemains>
    <graves:Skeleton rdf:about="Unknown Soldier's Remains">
     <graves:hisRemains rdf:resource="An Unknown Soldier"/>
     <graves:movedTo rdf:resource="The Sarcophagus"/>
    </graves:Skeleton>
   </graves:containsRemains>
   <graves:endDate rdf:datatype="Date">20000516</graves:endDate>
   <graves:startDate rdf:resource="During the Great War"/>
  </graves:WarGrave>
 </graves:containsGrave>
</graves:Cemetery>
</rdf:RDF>
 

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

6.6. Kitchener Cenotaph, Multiple Monument Movement Example

The Kitchener Cenotaph was built in 1929 and was moved twice before coming to its current location. During that time, the inscriptions were changed to reflect the events of the Second World War and the Korean War. The image below is an image map that links to the fragments of the RDF markup. Click on the image to explore how the monument is represented.

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

6.7. Halifax Boer War Memorial, A Very Complex Example

In certain cases it is desirable to breakdown a large and complex monument into smaller sub-monuments for both simplicity, ease of retrieval and to express specific cultural artifacts.

This example marks up the Halifax Boer War Memorial in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is represented using a series of sub monuments each having several faces to them. The html image map below is linked to the rdf instances within Muninn.

The Boer War memorial is represented by a series of sub-monuments which helps break down the cultural meaning of individual aspects or artifacts of the monument

In this case, several instances of persons, military regiments, battles and events are commemorated and depicted.

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

7. Cross-reference for Graves classes and properties

Class: graves:Ashes

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Ashes

Human Ashes -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Burial_mound

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Burial_mound

Burial Mound -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Cemetery

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Cemetery

Cemetery - A collection of graves in a single administrative unit. Distinct from a mass-grave.

This class is equivalent to the dbpedia instance http://dbpedia.org/resource/Cemetery based on the 514561782 version of the Wikipedia page.

This class is equivalent to the instance http://linkedgeodata.org/ontology/LanduseCemetery.

This class is equivalent to the instance http://linkedgeodata.org/ontology/Cemetery.

This class is a subclass of Dead people place.

A cemetery is a collection of graves in a location under a common administration, past or present.

6.8. Halifax Holy Cross, A Cemetery Example

The following example:

<graves:Cemetery rdf:about="Holy Cross Cemetery">
 <dc:source>http://holycrosshalifax.ca/</dc:source>
 <graves:denomination rdf:resource="Catholic"/>
 <graves:siteName>Holy Cross Cemetery</graves:siteName>
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about="HolyCrossHalifaxNSCenterPoint">
   <geo:lat>44.639117</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>-63.576037</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>
 <graves:hasLocation>
 <gn:locatedIn rdf:resource="Halifax"/>
 <graves:containsGrave rdf:resource="Lt. Harold Howe"/>
 <graves:containsGrave rdf:resource="Sgt. Major Charles E. L. Lewis"/>
 <graves:containsGrave rdf:resource="Sgt. F. T. Mooring"/>
 <graves:containsGrave rdf:resource="Lt. A. St. Croix Des Brisay"/>
 <graves:containsGrave rdf:resource=" Joseph's Grave "/>
</graves:Cemetery>
( ... )
<graves:Grave rdf:about=" Joseph's Grave ">
 <ns4:label xml:lang="en">Grave of Private Joseph Preston (Halifax, Canada)</ns4:label>
 <!-- Joseph's friends chipped in to get him a decent grave marker -->Joseph's Tombstone
 <documents:createdBy>
  <org:Group rdf:about=".."/>
   <org:name>The comrades of Joseph Preston</org:name>  
  <org:Group>
 </documents:createdBy>
 <grave:siteName>Grave of Private Joseph Preston</ns1:siteName>
 <grave:hasLocation rdf:resource="Point"/>
 <grave:hasCommemoration rdf:resource=" Joseph's Tombstone "/>
 <grave:containsRemains rdf:resource=" Joseph's Remains "/>
 <grave:graveContainedIn rdf:resource=" Holy Cross Cemetery "/>
</graves:Grave>

<graves:Tombstone rdf:about=" Joseph's Tombstone ">
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource=" Picture of the grave "/>
 <graves:inscription>LIEUTNANT HAROLD HOWE 66TH REGT. CDN. MILITIA 
 27TH NOVEMBER 1915 AGE 27</graves:inscription>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf rdf:resource=" Pvt. Joseph Preston "/>
</graves:Tombstone>

<graves:Remains rdf:about=" Joseph's Remains ">
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Remains of Joseph Preston (Halifax, Canada)</rdfs:label>
 <org:name>Remains of Joseph Preston</org:name>
 <graves:isRemainsOf rdf:resource=" Pvt. Joseph Preston "/>
 <graves:remainsIn rdf:resource=" Joseph's Grave "/>
<graves:Remains>

<mil:Soldier rdf:about=" Pvt. Joseph Preston ">
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Joseph Preston (Soldier, British Army)</rdfs:label>
 <graves:hisRemains rdf:resource=" Joseph's Remains "/>
 <mil:heldRank rdf:resource=" Rank of Private, British Army "/>
 <mil:isPrincipalOf rdf:resource=" Pvt. Preston joins the Regt. "/>
 <mil:name>Joseph Preston</mil:name>
 <mil:firstName>Joseph</mil:firstName>
 <mil:lastName>Preston</mil:lastName>
 <mil:deathday rdf:resource=" Joseph's Death "/>
 <mil:birthday rdf:resource=" Joseph's Birth "/>
</mil:Soldier>

(...)

The complete RDF dump of this example can be queried here.

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Class: graves:Cenotaph

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Cenotaph

Cenotaph -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Churchyard

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Churchyard

Churchyard (Small, Religious or Unofficial) - A collection of graves in a single location, smaller in number than a cemetery that is attached to a place of worship and non longer used for new burials. Must have a denomination.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Container_for_human_remains

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Container_for_human_remains

Container of human remains - A generic class to unify all containers of human remains.

in-domain-of:
graves:hasState
graves:id
graves:movedFrom
graves:movedTo
graves:endDate
graves:startDate
graves:containsRemains
graves:graveContainedIn
in-range-of:
graves:remainsIn
graves:containsGrave
A grave is a receptacle for the remains of human beings. Technically, this could be a funeral urn also.

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Class: graves:Crypt

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Crypt

Crypt -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Dead_people_place

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Dead_people_place

Dead people place - A physical and administrative place with dead people in it. Of the non-zombie kind.

in-domain-of:
graves:hasState
graves:hasMap
graves:siteName
graves:id
graves:movedFrom
graves:movedTo
graves:endDate
graves:startDate
graves:hasLocation
graves:denomination
graves:containsGrave
in-range-of:
graves:graveContainedIn
A rather poorly named class, this is the super-class of all other classes. It is not meant to be instantiated but groups the subclasses together in a common purpose. This should be the reverse of a populated place according to the Geonames ontology.

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Class: graves:Dig_site

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Dig_site

Archaeological dig site - A physical location under the administration of an Archaeological organization where graves are being exhumed.

This class is equivalent to the instance http://linkedgeodata.org/ontology/ArchaeologicalSite.

This class is a subclass of Dead people place.

This is to represent a specific archaeological dig site, active or suspended.

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Class: graves:EmptyGrave

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#EmptyGrave

Empty Grave - Use this for empty graves.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Grave

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Grave

Grave - A single or mass grave with the remains of human beings.

in-domain-of:
graves:hasLocation

This class is equivalent to the dbpedia instance http://dbpedia.org/resource/Grave based on the 515046345 version of the Wikipedia page.

This class is a subclass of Container of human remains.

A grave is a receptacle for the remains of human beings.

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Class: graves:Gravestone

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Gravestone

Gravestone - Convinience class - redirects to #tombstone.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Graveyard

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Graveyard

Graveyard (Small, Religious or Unofficial) - A collection of graves in a single location, smaller in number than a cemetery that is usually attached to a place of worship and non longer used for new burials.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Headstone

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Headstone

Headstone - Convinience class - redirects to #tombstone.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Mass_grave

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Mass_grave

Mass Grave - True if the grave contains more than the remains of one person. This limit is arbitrary and needs debate.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Memorial

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Memorial

Memorial - A physical feature commemorating a person or group of people who have died.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:MilitaryCemetery

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#MilitaryCemetery

Cemetery (Military) - A collection of graves of soldiers in a single administrative unit. Distinct from a mass-grave. May also contain civilian graves, but the primary purpose of the cemetary must be military.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Monument

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Monument

Monument - A physical feature commemorating something or someone.

in-domain-of:
graves:hasState
graves:hasMap
graves:hasPart
graves:isPartOf
graves:hasNorthFace
graves:isNorthFaceOf
graves:hasSouthFace
graves:isSouthFaceOf
graves:hasWestFace
graves:isWestFaceOf
graves:hasEastFace
graves:isEastFaceOf
graves:hasFrontFace
graves:isFrontFaceOf
graves:hasRearFace
graves:isRearFaceOf
graves:hasTopPart
graves:isTopPartOf
graves:hasBottomPart
graves:isBottomPartOf
graves:siteName
graves:id
graves:movedFrom
graves:movedTo
graves:endDate
graves:startDate
graves:hasLocation
graves:epitaph
graves:monument_title
graves:inscription
graves:isCommemorationOf
graves:hasCommemoration
in-range-of:
graves:hasPart
graves:isPartOf
graves:hasNorthFace
graves:isNorthFaceOf
graves:hasSouthFace
graves:isSouthFaceOf
graves:hasWestFace
graves:isWestFaceOf
graves:hasEastFace
graves:isEastFaceOf
graves:hasFrontFace
graves:isFrontFaceOf
graves:hasRearFace
graves:isRearFaceOf
graves:hasTopPart
graves:isTopPartOf
graves:hasBottomPart
graves:isBottomPartOf

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:ObjectState

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#ObjectState

Object States - A set of states that an object can be in.

in-range-of:
graves:hasState

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Ossuary

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Ossuary

Ossuary -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Partial_remains

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Partial_remains

Partial remains - Indicates partial remains of an entity, some additional ontologies would be needed to extend this for part of remains information.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Plaque

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Plaque

Commemorative plaque - A plaque commemorating a person, thing or event.

This class is equivalent to the dbpedia instance http://dbpedia.org/resource/Commemorative_plaque based on the 511073020 version of the Wikipedia page.

This class is a subclass of Monument.

Plaques are often used to commemorate individuals where a new structure would not be practical. Here is an example of one of the plaques at Dalhousie University in the Hicks building. I used Dublin Core mark-up to record the year of unveiling of the plaque.

6.9. Dalhousie University Great War Memorial, Plaque Example

<graves:Plaque rdf:about="A Dal Plaque">
        <dc:date>1918</dc:date>
        <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Image of Plaque"/>
        <graves:hasLocation>
         <geo:Point rdf:about="Building Location">
          <geo:lat>44.636214</geo:lat>
          <geo:long>-63.593207</geo:long>
         </geo:Point>
        </graves:hasLocation>
        <graves:hasLocation rdf:resource="http://linkedgeodata.org/triplify/way8039061"/>
        <graves:hasLocation>
         <rnews:PostalAddress rdf:about="Building Address">
          <foaf:name>Henry Hicks Academic Building, Dalhousie University</foaf:name>
          <rnews:postalCode>B3H4H6</rnews:postalCode>
          <rnews:streetAddress>6299 South Street</rnews:streetAddress>
          <rnews:addressCountry rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/6251999/"/>
          <rnews:addressLocality rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/6324729/"/>
          <rnews:addressRegion rdf:resource="http://sws.geonames.org/6091530/"/>
         </rnews:PostalAddress> 
        </graves:hasLocation>
        <graves:siteName xml:lang="en">Dalhousie University Great War Memorial
        Plaques</graves:siteName>
        <graves:inscription>IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE OF OUR CLASSMATES WHO GAVE 
        THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR. 1914 - 1918 JOHN BURGESS CALKIN CARSON VERNON
        ARTHUR GRIERSON CYRIL HYDE HENRY ARTHUR MOSELY - "THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR 
        EVERMORE" DALHOUSIE CLASS 1918</graves:inscription>
        <graves:isCommemorationOf>
         <foaf:Group rdf:about="All Dal Great War Vet.">
          <foaf:name>Dalhousie students that died in the Great War</foaf:name>
          <foaf:member>
           <foaf:Person rdf:about="John Carson">
            <foaf:lastName>Carson</foaf:lastName>
            <foaf:firstName>John</foaf:firstName>
            <foaf:middleName1>Burgess</foaf:middleName1>
            <foaf:middleName2>Calkin</foaf:middleName2>
            <org:allegiance rdf:resource="Canada as it was in 1918"/<
           </foaf:Person>
          </foaf:member>

          <foaf:member>
           <foaf:Person rdf:about="Vernom Grierson">
            <foaf:familyName>Grierson</foaf:familyName>
            <foaf:givenName>Vernon</foaf:givenName>
            <foaf:middleName1>Arthur</foaf:middleName1>
            <org:allegiance rdf:resource="Canada as it was in 1918"/<
           </foaf:Person>
          </foaf:member>

          <foaf:member>
           <foaf:Person rdf:about="Cyril Hyde">
            <foaf:familyName>Hyde</foaf:familyName>
            <foaf:givenName>Cyril</foaf:givenName>
            <org:allegiance rdf:resource="Canada as it was in 1918"/<
           </foaf:Person>
          </foaf:member>

          <foaf:member>
           <foaf:Person rdf:about="Henry Moseley">
            <foaf:familyName>Moseley</foaf:familyName>
            <foaf:givenName>Henry</foaf:givenName>
            <foaf:middleName1>Arthur</foaf:middleName1>
            <org:allegiance rdf:resource="Canada as it was in 1918"/<
           </foaf:Person>
          </foaf:member>

         </foaf:Group>
        </graves:isCommemorationOf>
        <graves:inscription>in proud remembrance of our classmates who gave their lives 
        in the great war 1914 - 1918 Their name liveth for evermore</graves:inscription>
       </graves:Plaque>

      

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Class: graves:Remains

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Remains

Human remains -

in-domain-of:
graves:id
graves:movedFrom
graves:movedTo
graves:endDate
graves:startDate
graves:remainsIn
graves:isRemainsOf
in-range-of:
graves:containsRemains
graves:hisRemains

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Sarcophagus

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Sarcophagus

Sarcophagus -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:ShipWreck

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#ShipWreck

Shipwreck -

in-domain-of:
graves:atDepth

This class is equivalent to the dbpedia instance http://dbpedia.org/resource/Shipwreck based on the 513841901 version of the Wikipedia page.

This class is a subclass of Dead people place.

This class is a subclass of Object is in a state.

Records the location of a ship wreck, including the depth at which the wreck is expected to rest. As some ship wrecks are classified as war graves by their home country, the WarGrave class should be extended to the instance when necessary.

6.10. Submarine U86, A ShipWreck Example

<graves:ShipWreck rdf:about="U68 ShipWreck">
 <foaf:siteName>Shipwreck of the U68</foaf:siteName>
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Shipwreck of the U68 (1915)</rdfs:label>
 <owl:sameAs rdf:resource="Dbpedia"/> 
 <graves:hasApproximateLocation> 
  <geo:Point rdf:about="Approximate location from G. Campbell">
   <geo:lat>57.933333</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>-10.883333</geo:long>
   <documents:source>
    <dc:bibliographicCitation rdf:about="In Campbell's book">
     <dc:title>My Mystery Ship</dc:title>
     <documents:createdBy rdf:resource="Dbpedia"/>  
     <dc:page>102</dc:page>
    </dc:bibliographicCitation>
   </documents:source>
  </geo:Point>
 </graves:hasApproximateLocation>
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about="Precise? Location by uboat.net">
   <geo:lat>51.9</geo:lat> 
   <geo:long>-10.883333</geo:long>
   <documents:source rdf:resource="uboat.net"/>
  </geo:Point>
 </graves:hasLocation>
 <graves:startDate rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#date">19160322</graves:startDate>
</graves:ShipWreck>

 

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Class: graves:Shrine

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Shrine

Shrine -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Skeleton

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Skeleton

Skeleton. - This property is meant to record that all of the larger bones of the skeleton were present. A body part seperatly buried or a skeleton missing a cranium would not be an instance of this property.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Statue

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Statue

Statue -

This class is equivalent to the dbpedia instance http://dbpedia.org/resource/Statue based on the 509775553 version of the Wikipedia page.

This class is a subclass of Monument.

See the Cambridge War Memorial example.

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Class: graves:Tombstone

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Tombstone

Tombstone -

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:Tumulus

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#Tumulus

Tumulus - Tumulus is actually the Latin word, but unclear what the appropriate English label is here.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Class: graves:WarGrave

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#WarGrave

War Grave - A grave of a soldier or person involved in a war. This can include non-combatants.

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:atDepth

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#atDepth

At Depth - Record the approximate depth that the wreck lies at.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:ShipWreck

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:containsGrave

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#containsGrave

contains grave -

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
Range:
graves:Container_for_human_remains

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:containsRemains

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#containsRemains

Grave contains remains -

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Container_for_human_remains
Range:
graves:Remains

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:denomination

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#denomination

Denomination - The religious denomination of the #Dead_people_place. For example, a Catholic cemetery."

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:endDate

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#endDate

End Date -

OWL Type:
DatatypeProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Container_for_human_remains
graves:Remains
graves:Monument
Range:
time:TemporalEntity
xsd:dateTime

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:epitaph

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#epitaph

Epitaph - The short text honoring the deceased person or persons.

OWL Type:
DatatypeProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:inscription
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
xsd:string

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:graveContainedIn

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#graveContainedIn

Grave contained by -

Inverse:
graves:containsGrave
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Container_for_human_remains
Range:
graves:Dead_people_place

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasBottomPart

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasBottomPart

Has a Bottom Face - Use this property to link the main monument to a monument instance that is on the bottom of the main one. Generally used by artists to sign their work.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasCommemoration

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasCommemoration

Has a commemoration - Records a monument that commemorates or represents the Person, Group or Event.

Inverse:
graves:isCommemorationOf
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasEastFace

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasEastFace

Has a east-facing surface - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link a Monument instance to another Monument instance describing the perticular surface that faces east.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasFrontFace

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasFrontFace

Has a front-facing surface - Use this property to link a Monument instance to another Monument instance that describes the front of the monument. The front of the monument is defined as the surface that the monument designer intended the visitor to see as a first surface.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasLocation

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasLocation

Location - Location in terms of longitude, latitude or geonames or street address.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Grave
graves:Monument
Range:
http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos
http://www.geonames.org/ontology
xsd:string

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasLocationObfuscated

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasLocationObfuscated

Obfuscated Location - This property provides location information which is accurate but whos precision has been degraded for some reason. Replaces previous #obfuscated property.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:hasLocation

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasMap

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasMap

has Map - Pointer to a instances or class that describes the map or grid reference system in use. Primarily meant for use with archeological digs and cemeteries, it is potentially useful for very large monuments.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
graves:Dead_people_place

There is currently no standard for the markup or recording of information about the location of graves within cemeteries or dig sites. This property is meant as a pointer to a map or geographic reference system used by the collection of graves to record location.

Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery Map Example

<graves:MilitaryCemetery rdf:About="Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery">
 <graves:siteName<Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery</graves:siteName>
 (...)
 <!-- Map of grave locations according to the cwwg website -->
 <graves:hasMap rdf:resource="Givenchy Cemetery Map"/>
</graves:MilitaryCemetery>

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Property: graves:hasNorthFace

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasNorthFace

Has a north-facing surface - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link a Monument instance to another Monument instance describing that perticular surface that faces north.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasPart

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasPart

Has an additional part - When dealing with complex monuments, use this to attach a main monument instance to a sub-monument.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasRearFace

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasRearFace

Has a rear-facing surface - Use this property to link a Monument instance to another Monument instance that describes the rear-facing surface of the monument. The front of the monument is defined as the surface that the monument designer intended the visitor to see as a first surface.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasSouthFace

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasSouthFace

Has a south-facing surface - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link a Monument instance to another Monument instance describing the perticular surface that faces south.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasState

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasState

Object is in a state - The state of the object in terms of in construction, ruined, destroyed.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Container_for_human_remains
Range:
graves:ObjectState

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasTopPart

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasTopPart

Has a Top Face - Use this property to link the main monument to a monument instance that is on top of the main one. Generally done for statues that are mounted to a pedestal with a plaque.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hasWestFace

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hasWestFace

Has a west-facing surface - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link a Monument instance to another Monument instance describing the perticular surface that faces west.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:hisRemains

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#hisRemains

Person has remains -

Inverse:
graves:isRemainsOf
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
org:Person
foaf:Agent
Range:
graves:Remains

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:id

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#id

ID - Local ID number for non linked open data processing.

OWL Type:
DatatypeProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Remains
graves:Container_for_human_remains
graves:Monument
Range:
xsd:string

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:inscription

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#inscription

Inscription on Monument - The inscription on the moment. Can be a string or point to another document.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isBottomPartOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isBottomPartOf

Is the bottom-facing surface of - Use this property to link the monument instance describing the bottom-part of the monument to the main monument instance. Generally used by artists to sign their work.

Inverse:
graves:hasBottomPart
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isCommemorationOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isCommemorationOf

Is a commemoration of - Records any information as to the Person, Group, Event being commemorated or represented.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
This property is an alternative means of creating a relationship between the monuments and the person(s) being remembered. This property is primarily meant to refer to people or groups of people, but referencing an event is also possible. Two examples dealing with memorials in Cambridge, England follow.

6.11. The Cambridge War Memorial, A Commemorative Statue Example

The memorial is a statue in a roadway island, in this example it commemorates local war veterans. The interesting bits here are that the model for the statue is known and so is the Sculptor.

<graves:Statue rdf:about="The Statue">
 <owl:sameAs rdf:resource="The Status is OSM."/>
 <dc:date>1922</dc:date>
 <graves:hasTitle>The Homecoming</graves:hasTitle>
 <graves:siteName>Cambridge War Memorial</graves:siteName>
 <rdfs:label xml:lang="en">Cambridge War Memorial (Cambridge, UK)</rdfs:label>
 <foaf:depiction rdf:resource="Picture of the statue"/>
 <foaf:depicts>
  <org:Person rdf:about="Kenneth was the model for the statue.">
   <foaf:familyName>Hamilton</foaf:familyName>
   <foaf:givenName>Kenneth</foaf:givenName>
  </org:Person>         
 </foaf:depicts> 
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about="Statue Location">
   <geo:lat>52.195005</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>0.131273</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>
 </graves:hasLocation>
 <graves:inscription>to the men of cambridgeshire. the isle of ely. the 
     borough and university of cambridge who served in the great war 1914-1919
     and in the world war 1939-1945 </graves:inscription>
 <graves:isCommemorationOf>
  <foaf:Group rdf:about="Group Commemorated">
   <foaf:name>Isle of Ely, Cambridge Area Combattants</foaf:name>
  </foaf:Group>
 </graves:isCommemorationOf>
 <documents:createdBy rdf:resource="The Sculptor"/>
</graves:Statue>
      

Note that here we've created a group with only a name and no restrictions on memberships. It is possible to build some very creative owl statements to locate all persons that are commemorated by this monument by using a series of restrictions based on place and date of birth.

6.12. The Cambridge Gasworks Memorial, A Memorial By A Disbanded Organization

Some memorials are problematic in that they reference organizations and buildings that no longer exist, such as the Cambridge Gas works. The site is now occupied by a Tesco's, so we can abuse Linked Geo Data's ontology to reference the area of the Tesco without referencing the supermarket itself.
<graves:Cenotaph rdf:about="Cenotaph Itself">
 <owl:sameAs rdf:resource="Linked Geo Data Cenotaph"/>
 <graves:siteName>Cambridge War Memorial</graves:siteName>
 <graves:inscription>In remembrance of our fellow workers that fell in the Great War
  and in the Second World War</graves:inscription>
 <graves:inCommemorationOf>
  <foaf:Group rdf:about="Commemorated Group">
   <foaf:name>Cambridge Gas Works Employees</foaf:name>
  </foaf:Group>      
 </graves:inCommemorationOf>
 <graves:hasLocation>
  <geo:Point rdf:about="Cenotaph Location">
   <geo:lat>52.209986</geo:lat>
   <geo:long>0.144213</geo:long>
  </geo:Point>
 </graves:hasLocation>
 <documents:createdBy>
  <org:Group rdf:about="Employees of defunct gasworks">
   <org:name>The employees of the Cambridge Gasworks</org:name>
   <!-- Gasworks taken down circa 1971 -->
   <org:deathday rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#gYear">1971>/org:deathday>
   <!-- About in the same area as the Tesco supermarket and its parking lot. 
        Link to the location and not the object. -->
   <graves:hasLocation rdf:resource="Linked Geo Data Geometry"/>
  </org:Group>
 </documents:createdBy>
</graves:Cenotaph>

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Property: graves:isEastFaceOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isEastFaceOf

Is the east-facing surface of a Monument - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link the east-facing surface to the main Monument instance.

Inverse:
graves:hasEastFace
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isFrontFaceOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isFrontFaceOf

Is the front-facing surface of - Use this property to link the monument instance describing the front surface of the monument to the main monument instance.

Inverse:
graves:hasFrontFace
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isNorthFaceOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isNorthFaceOf

Is the north-facing surface of a Monument - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link the north-facing surface to the main Monument instance.

Inverse:
graves:hasNorthFace
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isPartOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isPartOf

is Part of a monument - When dealing with complex monuments, use this to attach a sub-monument to the main instance.

Inverse:
graves:hasPart
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isRearFaceOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isRearFaceOf

Is the rear-facing surface of - Use this property to link the monument instance describing the rear-facing surface of the monument to the main monument instance.

Inverse:
graves:hasRearFace
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isRemainsOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isRemainsOf

Remains of this Person - A place holder for any information related to the identity of the remains.

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Remains
Range:
org:Person
foaf:Agent

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isSouthFaceOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isSouthFaceOf

Is the south-facing surface of a Monument - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link the south-facing surface to the main Monument instance.

Inverse:
graves:hasSouthFace
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isTopPartOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isTopPartOf

Is the top-facing surface of - Use this property to link the monument instance describing the top-part of the monument to the main monument instance. Usually used for statues.

Inverse:
graves:hasTopPart
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:isWestFaceOf

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#isWestFaceOf

Is the west-facing surface of a Monument - When dealing with monuments with multiple surfaces bearing inscriptions, use this property to link the west-facing surface to the main Monument instance.

Inverse:
graves:hasWestFace
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
sub-property-of:
graves:isPartOf
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:monument_title

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#monument_title

Monument title - The name of the monument; distinct from the inscription on it.

OWL Type:
DatatypeProperty
Domain:
graves:Monument
Range:
xsd:string

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:movedFrom

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#movedFrom

Moved from - Use this to relate a grave or remains to its original instance elsewhere. Use this for disinterments, relocation, storage, etc...

Inverse:
graves:movedTo
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Container_for_human_remains
graves:Remains
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:movedTo

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#movedTo

Moved to - Use this to relate a grave or remains to its next instance elsewhere. Use this for disinterments, relocation, storage, etc...

OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Container_for_human_remains
graves:Remains
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:remainsIn

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#remainsIn

Remains are in Grave -

Inverse:
graves:containsRemains
OWL Type:
ObjectProperty
Domain:
graves:Remains
Range:
graves:Container_for_human_remains

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:siteName

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#siteName

Site Name - The name of the site / monument.

OWL Type:
DatatypeProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Monument

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Property: graves:startDate

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/graves#startDate

Start Date -

OWL Type:
DatatypeProperty
Domain:
graves:Dead_people_place
graves:Container_for_human_remains
graves:Remains
graves:Monument
Range:
time:TemporalEntity
xsd:dateTime

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Abandoned

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Abandoned

Abandoned - The object still exists but is not in use.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Burned

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Burned

Burned - The object was damaged by fire and it either permanently or temporarely unservicable.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Demolished

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Demolished

Demolished - The object was destroyed or disassmbled and remains or traces of the object may exists.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Eliminated

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Eliminated

Eliminated - The object was completely and permanently destroyed or disassmbled. No remains or traces of the object exists.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Rebuilt

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Rebuilt

Rebuilt - The object has been made servicable after damage through repairs.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Ruins

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Ruins

Ruins - The object has been unservicable for some time and cannot be repaired, but some traces of the objects can still be observed.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Servicable

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Servicable

Serviceable - The object is capable of performing its function (but may not be activated or in use).

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Unbuilt

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Unbuilt

Unbuilt - The object is planned for construction but work has not begun (and / or may never be built).

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: UnServicable

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/UnServicable

unserviceable - The object is incapable of functioning but may be repairable.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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Instance: Wrecked

URI: http://rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/Wrecked

Wrecked - The object is wrecked, crashed or in a state of disrepair because something collided with it or the ship sank.

RDF Type:
graves:ObjectState
skos:Concept

No detailed documentation for this term.

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8.Conclusion and Future Work

The graves ontology is an initial attempt at documenting graves and sites containing human remains. Please feel free to email comments and concerns.

9. Deprecation cross-reference

The following properties are deprecated and their equivalent instance is listed.

DeprecatedEquivalent Instances
Empty_graveEmptyGrave
moved_frommovedFrom
moved_tomovedTo
obfuscatedhasLocationObfuscated
locationhasLocation
monument_nameinscription
contains_remainscontainsRemains
remains_inremainsIn
contains_gravecontainsGrave
grave_ingraveContainedIn
remains_ofisRemainsOf
has_remainshisRemains
commemoratesisCommemorationOf
commemorated_byhasCommemoration
site_namesiteName

Version History

TODO