Metadata Description
The database has three main types of content: pottery products, samples, and analyses.
Pottery Product
Artefact ID - the inventory number is used as the primary ID in the database. Some alternative IDs may also be recorded, such as the acquisition ID, event ID, or excavation report ID.
Artefact category - the object type, such as stove tile, floor tile, aquamanile, or small sculpture. More granular typologies are also available for each artefact category.
Site - where the pottery product comes from.
Geolocation - coordinates in WGS84 representing where the pottery product was found.
Description - a basic overview of all visible characteristics including shaping details and decoration.
Measurements - a complex field structured according to section 6 of the CDWA standard. It has 11 subfields - Dimensions Type, Dimensions Value, Dimensions Unit, Dimensions Extent, Scale Type, Dimensions Qualifier, Dimensions Date, Shape, Format/Size, Remarks, and Citations. The definitions of each field can be found in the standard itself.
Number of instances - how many instances of this object are there known to be, this may be a precise value or the smallest possible quantity
Motif - an iconography category selected from a controlled vocabulary
Raw Material - set to ceramics for all items, is useful when data is integrated into wider databases
Material inclusions and Material colour - what type of material the pottery was made from and the colour of that material, a controlled vocabulary is used for both fields
Surface finishing - the type and colour of the finishing, both subfields are repeatable, and a controlled vocabulary is used for them
Datation - a free text note explaining the datation in Czech and English accompanied by a structured value, either a relative value (e.g. Middle Ages) or as an estimated range of years (e.g. 1200-1250).
Ownership - the institution or person that has custody over the artefact
Traces - a note of any marks of use on the object (traseology)
Literature - references to more information about the pottery product or to publications researching it
Sample
Sample ID - used to distinguish between samples taken from the same artefact
Description - a text field that can be used for describing how the sample was extracted and where it was from
Is macrosample and Is thin section - binary fields that can be true, false, or empty
Analysis
Analysis type - what method was used, e.g. optic microscopy
Instrument used - the manufacturer, model, and type of instrument used
Analysed by - the researcher who conducted the analysis
Analysis date - when the analysis was conducted
Note on method text fields for providing information about the analysis methodology
Additional fields are used depending on the type of analysis. Optic microscopy is the main analysis type present in the database.
Browsing the Database
Select the "Browse -> Basic" link in the main navigation menu to view the contents of the database. Individual records consist of the artefact category and identification code, which link to the full record of the artefact category, the name of the holder, and an image of the pottery product. The results can be filtered by artefact category. Using the "Sort by" (and "Order") option, records can be sorted according to the selected parameter.
Select the "Browse -> Map" option to view the contents of the database on an interactive map. Here too the results can be filtered by artefact category. Click on the marker on the map to display basic metadata regarding the pottery product. Some pottery products may not appear on the map because the coordinates are unavailable or not public.
Searching the Database
Two search forms are available via the "Search" option in the main navigation menu allowing you to enter a structured query with several parameters, one for searching pottery products (Search -> Basic) and another for searching the results of analyses done on them (Search -> Scientific).
The search is guided by the following general principles:
- all strings are automatically expanded to the right
- individual fields are linked by the AND operator (e.g. entering floor tile in the Artefact category field and 1350 in the Latest datation field will find records that are both floor tiles and estimated to be created before the year 1350)
- in fields where multiple values can be selected from drop-down menus, these values are concatenated with the OR operator (e.g. selecting the values heraldic and hunting in the Motif field will find records that contain at least one of these two values)
- to increase the relevance of search results, a phrase can be used, i.e. the search term can be enclosed in quotation marks to find the exact string (e.g. "Virgin Mary")
- less frequently needed search fields can be found by expanding the grey tab above the search button
How to Export Data
It is possible to download image files of individual items and metadata of the entire collection.