Proposta di applicazione di un approccio object-oriented alla formalizzazione di dati qualitativi

Oleg Missikoff

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1995, 6, 225-242

Abstract

Classification represents a central topic in archaeological research. In fact, archaeologists seem to spend a great deal of their time in describing and sorting materials, from surveys and excavations, in groups which should serve various ends. In the history of archaeological classification, briefly outlined in the first part of the paper, there has been an endless debate between the researchers following the traditional /qualitative/subjective approach and the proponente of a “new” (now forty years old) paradigm, founded on the formal/quantitative/objective idiom. With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that none of them is at all satisfactory. In fact the traditional approach, despite the empirical validity, has proven very difficult to be formalized; the quantitative approach on the other hand, though being based on sound scientific principles, has presented serious difficulties in its practical applications. The article describes an attempt to implement an informatic tool able to produce formal analyses based on both qualitative and quantitative variables: an intelligent ObjectOriented system with classificatory purposes. The system, called Mosaico, is thoroughly illustrated in the second part of the article. The description concerns all the components of Mosaico, a language for conceptual modelling called TQL++ (Type and Query Language), and a brief explanation of some terms useful for a better understanding of the matter. A working example on the Fibulae from the Quattro Fontanili cemetery concludes the paper.

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