DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17725251
title: Mesolithic human footprints of Aldène cave (France) - Semantic data, data model and application ontology based on CIDOC CRM

description: Project Information

This publication is part of the research project 'The Volp Caves: Contextualisation of Palaeolithic Rock Art', funded by the DFG with grant no. 522090020 (project term: 2023-2035). 

Upper Palaeolithic painted caves, primarily in southwestern Europe, have been the subject of extensive interdisciplinary research combining archaeology, art history, and natural sciences (Leroi-Gourhan 1958, 1965; Aujoulat 2004; Lorblanchet 2018). In exceptionally well-preserved contexts, such as certain managed cave sites, rock art is accompanied by archaeological remains and human footprints that have survived in isolation (Lorblanchet 2018). 

To investigate these footprints, the ‘Tracking in Caves’ project was initiated in 2008. Fieldwork was conducted in the caves of Fontanet, Niaux, Pech-Merle, and Tuc d’Audoubert in 2013, and later in Aldène and Tuc d’Audoubert in 2018 (Pastoors et al. 2015; 2021; 2024). The project aimed to advance research on Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers through the application of indigenous ichnology, employing expert trackers from southern Africa. Expeditions were carried out by interdisciplinary teams of archaeologists, photographers, and anthropologists to document the epistemological process in detail.In this project, three Ju|'hoan San trackers from Nyae Nyae in Namibia — Tsamkxao /Ai!ae, /Ui G/aq’o and |Ui /Kunta — analysed prehistoric footprints in the Aldène, Pech-Merle, and Tuc d’Audoubert caves. 

Situated in southern France at the centre of the Minervois plateau, Aldène extends over more than 9 km across four hydrogeological levels. On the second, or Cathala level, over 450 footprints have been recorded in five sectors (Galant 2017). The trackers examined these traces between 2–8 October 2018. 

This Dataset

The observations in Aldène cave were captured as detailed research data in an Excel spreadsheet (see publication on Zenodo). This dataset instead contains the specific data model for Mesolithic human footprints, the semantic description of the raw Excelsheet data on the basis of CIDOC CRM in terms of an application ontology. Also you find the pathbuilder files exported from the virtual research environment WissKI showing the semantic paths lying under the input fields.

WissKI is an open source software developed for the semantic documentation of research data and information. By means of the semantic web this potent tool helps to structure, enrich, visualize and archive research data, using standard formats as RDF and an ISO-standard ontology for cultural heritage (CIDOC CRM). The intermediate results (state january 2026) can be seen in the test database: https://aldene.wisski.data.fau.de/ It is hosted by the FAU Competence Center for Reserach Data and Information.Note: For migrating the raw research data from Excel completely in the WissKI database, small amounts of data were imported manually avoiding big development efforts for automatic solutions. The URLs of the database are not permanently quotable!

The final research environment with stable URIs is in progress. It is about to contain more context information and will be published within a WissKI structure called CoRA (Contextualisation of Rock Art). 

Dataset overview

This dataset includes the following files: 

volp_dm_albers_20251103.png This figure shows the data model for capturing Mesolithic human footprints. It shows the main bundles, their semantic classes and the properties relating the classes. This model structures data about the footprint (spoor), its topographical context in the cave, and analytical results like measurements and interpretations. 

volp.owl This file includes the application ontology based on CIDOC CRM and on CRM sci, developed for capturing research data about Mesolithic human footprint.  

pb_aldene2nd_20251127.pdf This PDF shows the socalled Pathbuilder, the core functionality of WissKI, where the semantic paths behind the input fields are managed. 

pb_aldene2nd_20251127T151339.xml This Pathbuilder file can be uploaded and used in any WissKI system. For just visualisation it can be uploaded in the visualisation tool Tipsy. 

data_aldene_20251208.nq This data dump contains the concrete data of the Excel spreadsheet semantically enriched and interconnected on the base of CIDOC CRM, CRMsci and the application ontology.  

volp_ontology_docu20260128 This PDF documents the application ontology, containing the scope notes of the classes and properties created for this purpose, as well as an integration in the hierarchy of CIDOC CRM and CRM sci classes and properties. 

Contact

For information regarding the data model, the application ontology or the research environment WissKI, please contact the FAU CDI WissKI Team cdi-wisski-support@fau.de 

For more information as regards content, please contact Prof. Dr. Andreas Pastoors andreas.pastoors@fau.de 

Literature cited

Aujoulat, N. (2004). Lascaux. La geste, l’espace et le temps. Seuil, Paris.Galant, P. (2017). Cesseras (Hérault) - Grotte d’Aldène. Étude paléoanthropologique des empreintes de pieds humains de la galerie Paul Ambert dans le réseau Cathala, Mission 2017.Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1958). Répartition et groupement des animaux dans l’art pariétal paléolithique. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 55: 515–528.Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1965). Préhistoire de l’art occidental. Mazenod, Paris.Lorblanchet, M. (2018). Art pariétal. Grottes ornées du Quercy. Éditions du Rouergue,Pastoors, A. & Lenssen-Erz, T. (Eds.). (2021). Reading Prehistoric Human Tracks. Methods and Material. Springer Nature, Cham.Pastoors, A., Lenssen-Erz, T., Ciqae, T., Kxunta, /., Thao, T., Bégouën, R. et al. (2015). Tracking in Caves. Experience based reading of Pleistocene human footprints in French caves. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 25 (3): 551–564.Pastoors, A., Lenssen-Erz, T., Ciqae, T., Kxunta, /., Thao, T., Galant, P. et al. (2024). Reading Mesolithic Human Tracks with a Multi-Method Approach in the Paul Ambert Gallery of Aldène cave (Cathala Level, Hérault, France). Quartär 70: 97–138.