Antiquity 2021 Vol.

95 (382): e24, 1–7

https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2021.87

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Citizen science archaeological finds on the Semantic

Web: the FindSampo framework
Eero Hyvönen1,2, *, Heikki Rantala1,2, Esko Ikkala1,2, Mikko Koho1,2,
Jouni Tuominen1,2, Babatunde Anafi1,2, Suzie Thomas3 , Anna Wessman3 ,
Eljas Oksanen3, Ville Rohiola4, Jutta Kuitunen4 & Minna Ryyppö4
1
Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Finland
2
Helsinki Centre for Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki, Finland
3
Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki, Finland
4
Finnish Heritage Agency, Helsinki, Finland
* Author for correspondence: ✉ eero.hyvonen@aalto.fi

FindSampo fosters collecting, sharing, publishing and studying archaeological finds discovered by the public.
The framework includes the following: a mobile find-reporting system; a semantic portal for researchers, the
public and collection managers to use; and a Linked Open Data service for creating custom data analyses and
for application developers.

Keywords: Finland, citizen science, metal detecting, archaeology, linked open data, Semantic Web

Introduction
FindSampo develops a prototype framework system for supporting mobile finds data report-
ing in the field, and for studying archaeological artefacts discovered and reported by the pub-
lic. While it is unique in responding to the archaeological conditions in Finland, and in
providing solutions to its users’ needs (Wessman et al. 2019), the framework and its imple-
mentation are open source and can be replicated for use elsewhere. FindSampo sits within a
broader context of digitising Finnish heritage (Hyvönen 2020), the European Public Finds
Recording Network (2021) and the ARIADNEPlus (n.d.) infrastructure project.

Challenges
Metal-detectorists’ finds can contribute to archaeological knowledge and research. In Fin-
land, however, it has been laborious to access data regarding new metal-detector finds, espe-
cially from a researcher perspective, and there is a backlog in the cataloguing process at the
Finnish Heritage Agency preventing up-to-date research. Hence, a user-friendly tool for
reporting, viewing, browsing and researching metal-detector finds to access high-quality meta-
data in a timely manner was needed. We adopted a ‘citizen science’ approach, conducting
surveys, interviews and focus groups for future users to express their preferences.

Received: 20 November 2020; Revised: 27 January 2021; Accepted: 9 February 2021

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 Eero Hyvönen et al.

FindSampo framework in action

FindSampo’s framework consists of three major components:

• FindSampo Reporter: a mobile application demonstrator to minimise the

reporting work in the field, foster collaborative work with the Finnish
Heritage Agency and create a Linked Open Data repository to be used
in applications (Hassanzadeh et al. 2020).
• FindSampo Portal: a research prototype (FindSampo n.d.) of a portal for
studying the finds online.
• FindSampo Data Service: based on the Linked Data (LD) approach, stan-
dards and best practices of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (Heath
& Bizer 2011). The linked data service (LD n.d.) with its application pro-
gramming interface can be used for data analysis in digital humanities
research with modest programming skills, and by developers for creating
new applications of the find data.

FindSampo is based on the ‘Sampo model’ (Hyvönen 2020) using the “FAIR guiding prin-
ciples for scientific data management and stewardship” (GoFair n.d.). This model includes
three components. A business model for collating, aggregating and publishing heteroge-
neous, distributed data from different content providers based on a shared ontology infra-
structure. An approach to interface design, where the data can be re-used and accessed
independently from multiple application perspectives, while the data reside in a single
SPARQL (Protocol and RDF Query Language) endpoint (WC3 2015). A two-step model
for accessing and analysing the data, where the focus of interest is first filtered out using a
faceted semantic search, and then visualised and analysed by ready-to-use Digital Humanities
tools of the portal. Implementing user interfaces based on this model is supported by the
open source Sampo-UI framework (SeCo n.d.).
In FindSampo archaeological finds can be searched using the faceted search paradigm (Tun-
kelang 2009), allowing narrowing of the result set by making orthogonal category value selec-
tions, such as object type, material, time period and place, based on underlying ontologies
(Figure 1). Once a result set of interest has been found, ready-to-use data analytic tools and
visualisations can be applied to it with additional contextual information. For example, it is pos-
sible to visualise finds on maps at the same time as seeing protected archaeological sites. If the
question is about an individual find, its ‘home page’ can be studied further (Figure 2).
The FindSampo Data Service with its SPARQL endpoint (WC3 n.d.) and data download
facility can be used for custom-made analyses. Different software tools can be employed for
this. Figure 3 presents a matrix showing probabilities that two types of items of the same era,
here Iron Age, are found in the same area, here a municipality.

Infrastructure: data and ontologies

The data used in FindSampo contain initially approximately 3000 finds transformed into LD
and published on the LDF.fi platform (Hyvönen et al. 2014). This data model describes the

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 Citizen science archaeological finds on the Semantic Web

Figure 1. Different views in FindSampo Reporter. From top left: Clustered Map view provides an aggregated view of
filtered finds on the map; HeatMap view visualises the filtered finds distribution in colours; Table view lists the finds in a
traditional way; Statistics view illustrates statistical distributions of the finds along different facet dimensions, here based
on the selected finds’ material (graphics by P. Hassanzadeh).

finds in terms of values taken from a set of (hierarchical) ontologies, such as object types,
materials and time periods. The ontologies collate heterogeneous data from different data
sources and are used to enrich the data by data linking to external data sources and by reason-
ing based on the Semantic Web logical standards (W3C n.d.). The shared ontology infra-
structure includes a new object type ontology of archaeological finds interlinked with the
MAO/TAO ontology for Museum Domain and Applied Arts (Finnish Thesaurus and

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Eero Hyvönen et al.

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Figure 2. The novel timeline visualisation in the FindSampo portal’s user interface (after Anafi et al. 2020). The activated filters are shown on top of the facets in the faceted search
section, and the result of the filters is displayed on the activated tab in the results area. The timeline visualisation shows the distribution of the filtered finds over time. Finds are
grouped by material type, providing the user with a new perspective on the material distribution of the finds chronologically (graphics by B. Anafi).
 Citizen science archaeological finds on the Semantic Web

Figure 3. Analysis and visualisation of co-occurring Iron Age object types found in the same municipality, made using
Python Matplotlib library and a Google Colab notebook. If coins are found then the probability for jewellery is 0.93, but
finding jewellery indicates coins with less probability, i.e. 0.41. Probability for co-occurrence of weapon and coin finds
seems low (graphics by H. Rantala).

Ontology Service n.d.) and the Art and Architecture Thesaurus of the Getty Research Centre
(Getty Research Institute n.d.), and a time-period ontology interlinked with the PeriodO
(n.d.) ontology, as recommended for international semantic interoperability in the ARIAD-
NEplus project.

Future visions
The surge of new metal-detected find records in Finland since the 2010s is rewriting our
understanding of material culture and associated fields in social, cultural and economic his-
tory. To actualise these developments, the FindSampo framework offers novel, ground-
breaking qualitative and quantitative research tools to advance digital humanities and citizen
science research. Furthermore, a new Marie Skłodowska-Curie project (CORDIS 2021),
which began in September 2020, will deploy FindSampo and other Finnish Heritage Agency
archaeological data to produce new analysis of large-scale and long-term development of
Finnish archaeological landscapes. To test the usability of the FindSampo framework for
other find datasets, we plan to apply it to the large Portable Antiquities Scheme (2021)

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 Eero Hyvönen et al.

database managed by the British Museum (2021). These initiatives push towards a deeper
understanding of the agency of the public as creators of new knowledge about the past.

Acknowledgements
CSC—IT Center for Science, Finland has provided computational resources for the work.

Funding statement
This article is an output of the research project SuALT—The Finnish Archaeological Finds
Recording Linked Open Database (2017–2021), funded by the Academy of Finland (deci-
sion numbers 310854, 310859 and 310860). Thanks to AriadnePlus and the Marie
Skłodowska-Curie project DeepFIN (grant agreement 896044) for additional funding.

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