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As knowledge graphs are getting increasingly adopted, the question of how to maintain the validity and accuracy of our knowledge becomes ever more relevant. We introduce context-aware constraints as a means to help preserve knowledge integrity. Context-aware constraints offer a more fine-grained control of the domain onto which we impose restrictions. We also introduce a bottom-up anytime algorithm to discover contextaware constraint directly from heterogeneous knowledge graphs-graphs made up from entities and literals of various (data) types which are linked using various relations. Our method is embarrassingly parallel and can exploit prior knowledge in the form of schemas to reduce computation time. We demonstrate our method on three different datasets and evaluate its effectiveness by letting experts on knowledge validation and management assess candidate constraints in a real-world knowledge validation use case. Our results show that overall, context-aware constraints are to an extent useful for knowledge validation tasks, and that the majority of the generated constraints are well balanced with respect to complexity.

In this study we apply an evidence-based approach to model population-size fluctuations and their corresponding impact on land use during the Roman and early-medieval periods in the Rhine–Meuse delta in the present-day Netherlands. Past-population numbers are reconstructed based on Roman and early-medieval settlement patterns. Corresponding impacts of these demographic fluctuations on potential land use are calculated by integrating the newly developed demographic overviews with archaeological and geoscientific data using a new land-use model termed ‘Past Land-Use Scanner’ (PLUS). The primary aims are to reconstruct first-millennium palaeodemographics and to explore the potential of simulation modelling for testing the feasibility of archaeological hypotheses regarding past land use. Results show that in the study area the first millennium AD was characterised by two periods during which major population growth occurred: the middle-Roman period (AD 70–270) and early-medieval period C (AD 725–950). A major demographic decline of 78–85% occurred during the late-Roman period (AD 270–450), after which first-millennium population numbers never again reached middle-Roman period levels. The modelling outcomes demonstrate that the impact of population fluctuations (growth vs decline) on the limits of the natural landscape during the first millennium in general was low. During these thousand years, the natural landscape almost without exception (only scenario D deviates) provided sufficient options for arable farming, meadows and pastures and was not a limiting factor for population growth. These results underline the added value of simulation modelling for testing the feasibility of archaeological hypotheses and analysing human–landscape interactions in the past.

This article discusses the use of 3D technologies in digital earth applications (DEAs) to study complex sites. These are large areas containing objects with heterogeneous shapes and semantic information. The study proposes that DEAs should be modular, have multi-tier architectures, and be developed as Free and Open Source Software if possible. In DEAs requiring high reliability in the 3D measurements, point clouds are proposed as basis for the 3D Digital digital earth representation. For the development of DEAs, we propose to follow a workflow with four components: data acquisition and processing, data management, data analysis and data visualization. For every component, technological challenges of using 3D technologies are identified and solutions applied for a case study are presented. The case study is a modular 3D DEA developed for the archaeological project Mapping the Via Appia. The 3D DEA allows archaeologists to virtually analyze a complex study area.

International audience; Settlement patterns and path networks represent different but connected perspectives on human-environment interaction through movement, manifested through the appropriation and organisation of landscape by societies. Settlement patterns and path networks evolve with unharmonized temporalities, but in constant interaction which render the territorial studies very challenging. Remote sensing, GIS and 3D modeling have greatly contributed to our knowledge and understanding of movement as encapsulated in routes, but the methods employed make it difficult to connect with theories of engagement through travel. Pragmatically, it is difficult to integrate LiDAR-detected traces of pathways, which conflate temporalities, with network analysis techniques and settlement pattern analysis which focus on changing patterns over time.This paper argues for an integrated approach. After a general review of the main methods developed to detect and model movement, pathways and networks of transportation, a conceptual framework will be presented that will enable us to make the connection between the material evidence of routes and various computer-based models of movement, and thus better understand territorial dynamics. This conceptual framework investigates connectivity at various spatiotemporal scales. Most importantly, it creates an explicit framework for research using both detection and modelling-led approaches. A comparison of regional case studies from the literature will be presented to discuss the balance between general models and specific contextualisation.

The use of 3D technologies in archaeology and architectural history has grown enormously. Nowadays, 3D technologies are used to record, present, analyse and reconstruct archaeological sites. Since the used tools mostly originate from other domains, the developments are characterised as technology-drivenrather than methodology-driven. The recent trend of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and the technological improvements of digital infrastructures are changing this. This article presents the development of a 3D Spatial Data Infrastructure (3D SDI) that allows archaeology and historical architecture researchers to analyse complex sites. For the development of the 3D SDI, IT literacy levels of the users, reusability of the tooling and the advantages of using FOSS are taken into account. The 3D SDI was developed for Mapping the Via Appia. An interdisciplinary team of archaeology experts and engineers have developed tailor-made 3D solutions to enhance the analysis and exploration of the Via Appia.

This article reflects on "landscape biography" as a strategy for interdisciplinary urban history research. It discusses the application of the approach in Challenging Testaccio, a joint project of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo, il Museo Nazionale Romano e l'Area archeologica di Roma, in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome and the Faculty of Architecture of RomaTreUniversity. This ongoing project aims at a diachronic history of the district from antiquity onwards and also studies the evolution of heritage claims and values related to the area. It seeks as well to contribute to present-day heritage management concerns, outlining amongst others the contours of a Spatial Data Infra-structure for information on the heritage and history of the district. The article reflects on Challenging Testaccio to identify the intellectual and practical opportunities and challenges of conducting such an interdisciplinary research programme that crosses the borders between archaeology, history, heritage management, spatial planning and community formation and to scrutinise the merits of the Landscape Biography approach to guide such a programme.

Spatial scientific research has increasingly become multidisciplinary. The need for different disciplines to share thematic knowledge and information has increased. However, not many Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) have succeeded in facilitating the needs of these multidisciplinary research communities. This article provides a methodological framework for the development of a user-centric SDI and applies it to the academic community that researches the history and heritage of urban and rural landscapes in the Netherlands. In addition, it demonstrates how the users’ objectives and Geospatial Information literacy can be determined, in order to inform the conceptual and technological architecture of a user-centric SDI. The architecture of the historical and heritage landscape SDI focuses on developing a user-centric dashboard, which is placed at the centre of the SDI, and developed as the result of a top-down analysis of the users. The framework and architecture presented function as an example for other third-generation SDIs, and form a reference point for the development of historical and heritage landscape SDIs in Europe.