Place:Context
Place:Context node definition.
Description
Nodes with both the "Place" and "Context" labels, representing the fundamental (spatial and stratigraphic) unit of analysis in archaeology: the "context" or "locus". Represented in visualizations by HTML hex color #9B2226: Place:Context with white (#FFFFFF) label text.
Theoretically, a Context is a distinct physically-recognizable unit of material evidence that represents a single event or period of depositional/site morphology activity, whether caused by human or non-human factors. Examples include built features such as a hearth or wall, a deposit of soil or other material, or a cut into earlier deposit/built contexts to create a rubbish pit or foundation trench. Ideally, Contexts will be identified and fully documented and removed from an archaeological excavation trench as a cohesive unit identified by a code, name, or number that represents the past activity. In practice, however, these site formation contexts might be documented and removed in parts where the context-of-recording does not necessarily correspond to a context-of-formation; this is often the result of excavating in 'spits' or set depth levels before a new "context number" is assigned, requiring careful analysis to collapse/merge such contexts-of-recording into contexts-of-formation that more accurately reflect the archaeological formation of the site. Sometimes post-excavation analysis, or later re-excavation of the same context in adjacent spaces, may reveal that what was originally recorded as one "context" should actually be two or more separate contexts-of-formation.
In our database, especially because we are relying on archaeological records collected across many decades of fieldwork by different people using an evolving methodology, "Place:Context" refers to the "context" or "locus" as it was excavated and recorded in the field, so should be understood as representing the context-of-recording, and limited in its analytical ability based on the quality of observation by the original excavation recording team. While usually understood as a spatial unit for archaeological excavations, "Place:Context" also refers to distinct physically-recognizable units of material evidence on the surface, as well as below the surface, and is used to record surface finds from Sites, Areas, and Trenches alike (as context "000", e.g., "UJ.000" is the generic surface context for the site of Umm Al-Jimal, "UJ.U.000" is the generic surface context for Umm Al-Jimal's Area U, and "UJ.U.10.000" is the unexcavated surface of Umm Al-Jimal's Trench U.10). In this way, "Place:Context" is used to record surface finds and observations from any field survey, whether based on a transect or grid system.
Analogy
A row in a "Contexts" spreadsheet or relational database table.
Example
"UJ.U.10.034": Context/Locus 034 in Trench U.10 at Umm Al-Jimal.
CIDOC-CRM Mapping
MAYBE include a short summmary here, but leave the details for the designated CIDOC-CRM section.
Node Properties
Basic Properties
| property | type | req? | uniq? | description | example(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| uid | string | Y | Y | Unique identifier as alphanumeric slug, prepended with “context-” | "context-uj-x-003" |
| name | string | Y | Y | Unique name by which this Context is known in the database. | "UJ.X.003" |
| description | string | Y | n | Short description of the Context recorded by this node. Will almost certainly be unique, but this is not enforced. | "Soil layer under pavement (X.002)." |
| justification | string | n | n | A brief explanation/justification for identifying this Context as a distinct Context from those around it. | "Color is much darker than Context 032 with a much higher concentration of inclusions." |
TENTATIVE Properties
(these may be changed to edge/relationships with Vocab terms or XX nodes, rather than directly stored as node properties)
| property | type | req? | uniq? | description | example(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
System/Audit Properties
(these are not required/enforced by Neo4j but are populated via the UJAP Database web application; these could also be handled—perhaps more simply—by edge/relationship to AuditEvent nodes)
| property | type | req? | uniq? | description | example(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| proposedAt | datetime | n | n | Timestamp of entity proposal (initial database record creation) | "2026-01-30T02:39:15.638Z" |
| proposedBy | string | n | n | Email or userID of the person who created this entity's initial/proposed record | "person@email.com" |
| approvedAt | datetime | n | n | Timestamp of entity proposal (initial database record creation) | "2026-01-30T12:47:15.638Z" |
| approvedBy | string | n | n | Email or userID of the person who created this entity's initial/proposed record | "person@email.com" |
| committedAt | datetime | n | n | of node entity COMMIT (i.e., formal approval/ publishing to database by an admin). | "2026-01-31T02:41:56.043Z" |
| committedBy | string | n | n | Email or userID of the person who COMMITTED this node entity. | "person@email.com" |
Relationships (outgoing)
( :Place:Context ) ——[:FALLS_WITHIN_PLACE]——> ( :Place:Area )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:FALLS_WITHIN_PLACE]——> ( :Place:Grid )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:FALLS_WITHIN_PLACE]——> ( :Place:Site )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:FALLS_WITHIN_PLACE]——> ( :Place:Trench )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_CONTEXT_TYPE]——> ( :Vocab:ContextType )
The following relationships MAY be replaced by a different approach designed to more directly reflect observational and interpretive assertions made through particular activities:
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_BONDING_MATERIAL]——> ( :Vocab:MaterialType )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_BUILDING_MATERIAL]——> ( :Vocab:MaterialType )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_DESTRUCTION]——> ( :Vocab:FormationType )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_FORMATION]——> ( :Vocab:FormationType )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_MODIFICATION]——> ( :Vocab:FormationType )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_NOTE]——> ( :Thing:Note )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_PHYSICAL_RELATE_TO]——> ( :Place:Context )
Relationships (incoming)
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_BREAK_OF_SLOPE ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_COLOR ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_COMPACTION ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_COMPOSITION ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_CONTEXT ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_DIMENSION ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_INCLUSION ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_SHAPE ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[ :OBSERVED_SLOPE ]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Place:GeoLocation ) ——[:IS_GEOLOCATION_OF]——> ( :Place:Context )
The following relationships MAY be replaced by a different approach designed to more directly reflect observational and interpretive assertions made through particular activities:
( :Activity:FieldSeason ) ——[:TOOK_PLACE_AT]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:FieldworkProcess ) ——[:TOOK_PLACE_AT]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:LabProcess ) ——[:TOOK_PLACE_AT]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Activity:Sampling ) ——[:TOOK_PLACE_AT]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Place:Context ) ——[:HAS_PHYSICAL_RELATE_TO]——> ( :Place:Context )
( :Place:Point ) ——[:FALLS_WITHIN_PLACE]——> ( :Place:Context )