Inscription Reading

• CURIE: gmeow:InscriptionReading
• IRI: https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/InscriptionReading
• Category: class
• Defined by: gmeow:slices/archaeological-evidence
• Box roles: TBox role (What is this?)

A scholarly reading of an inscription — the Observation that produces a LexicalForm from a sign-bearing feature. The reading is a standpoint-scoped claim, not ground truth: two scholars may read the same marks differently, and both readings coexist (Principle 9). Follows the universal Observation + Relator pattern.

Structure

Subclass of: gmeow:Observation, gufo:Relator

Practical Pattern

Use gmeow:InscriptionReading as a specialized kind of gmeow:Observation, gufo:Relator. Add statement metadata or a standpoint when the assertion needs provenance, confidence, or vantage.

Example Snippets

These snippets are generated from canonical slice examples and trimmed to the Turtle blocks where this term appears.

Inscription Reading

• Source: slices/extensions/archaeological-evidence/examples/inscription-reading.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-extensions-archaeological-evidence-examples-inscription-reading

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Blackcat Informatics® Inc. <paudley@blackcatinformatics.ca>
# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
#
# Worked example: a damaged inscription has many defensible readings (, P9).
# An gmeow:Inscription sits on a physical gmeow:carrierType (tablet, coin, seal …).
# Reading it is not a fact but a reified gmeow:InscriptionReading — an Observation
# with its own vantage and method — so two epigraphers' transcriptions of the same
# worn marks COEXIST, neither privileged. A gmeow:ScriptLanguageAttribution
# (cuneiform / Akkadian) is likewise a vantage-scoped claim, not a settled label.
@prefix gmeow: <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/> .
@prefix ex:    <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/examples/archaeological-evidence/> .
@prefix rdfs:  <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .

# --- Two contested readings of the same worn inscription (P9).
ex:readingSmith a gmeow:InscriptionReading ;
    gmeow:readingOf         ex:inscription ;
    gmeow:readingResult     ex:transcriptSmith ;
    gmeow:vantage           ex:smith ;
    gmeow:observationMethod gmeow:methodExpertJudgement .

Common Companion Terms

gmeow:Observation

External Equivalences

Equivalent or closely aligned targets: crmsci, oa, prov

Linkages

Generated from the canonical mapping DSL. SSSOM files are the generated public interchange form for term equivalences.

Term Equivalences