{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.cultural-artifact","code":"thing-q1791627","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1791627/","name":"cultural artifact","alternateNames":["Pacific Peoples artefacts","Māoriana","Flandrica","Europeana","Mexicana","Kiwiana","Maluwana","Norse cultural artifact","Australiana","Canadiana","Hawaiiana","Judaica"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"INF","domain":["INF.MED"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A cultural artifact is an object or recorded creation made or modified by people that embodies or provides evidence of the practices, knowledge, values, or expressive forms of the cultural contexts of its creators and users.","purpose":"Enable an agent to recognise a cultural artifact, assess its documented significance and condition, and determine culturally appropriate and authorised ways to study, care for, represent or use it.","scope":{"in":["Artifact identity, constituent parts and boundaries between original, version, replica and surrogate","Making, modification, use and interpretation within identified cultural contexts","Community relationships, attributed meanings and contested significance","Provenance, custody and evidence supporting ownership or authority claims","Material or digital condition, integrity and culturally appropriate continuity","Conditions governing handling, access, display, reproduction and return"],"out":["Creative works, expressions and editions considered independently of a particular artifact","Cultural practices, ceremonies, languages and traditions considered independently of their artifacts","Communities, makers, collecting institutions and their organisational structures","Archaeological sites, cultural landscapes and buildings modelled as places or structures","Collections and exhibitions as aggregates or curatorial arrangements","Unmodified natural specimens and human remains, which require distinct treatment even when held alongside artifacts"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["A candidate has evidence of human making or modification; cultural interest in an otherwise unmodified natural object does not alone satisfy this proposed scope.","The record identifies a bounded artifact or explicitly bounded assemblage, rather than only a genre, tradition, motif or abstract work.","Cultural attribution or significance is connected to named interpreters, communities, uses or documented contexts rather than asserted as an intrinsic property.","A reproduction can have its own artifact identity and cultural history; resemblance or shared content does not establish identity with the source artifact.","Age, rarity, artistic intention and museum accession are not required by this proposed scope; ordinary, contemporary and born-digital artifacts can qualify."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"artifact-identity","name":"Artifact identity","description":"Establishes what the artifact is and how its identity relates to parts, works and reproductions.","layers":[{"id":"object-boundaries","name":"Object boundaries","description":"Identifies the culturally and physically meaningful unit being modelled.","findings":[{"id":"bounded-artifact","name":"Bounded artifact","description":"Record evidence for treating the candidate as one artifact, including human modification and constituent parts.","questions":[{"text":"What evidence of making or modification establishes this candidate as an artifact?","id":"bounded-artifact-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which parts belong to this artifact, and do source-community understandings differ from the current catalogue boundary?","id":"bounded-artifact-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"identity-across-copies","name":"Identity across copies","description":"Separates artifact identity from represented content and visual similarity.","findings":[{"id":"works-versions-surrogates","name":"Works, versions and surrogates","description":"Record relationships to embodied works, replicas, reconstructions and digital representations without merging their identities.","questions":[{"text":"Does this record identify an artifact, a work embodied by it, or a representation of another artifact?","id":"works-versions-surrogates-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What evidence distinguishes this instance from a replica, later version or reconstruction?","id":"works-versions-surrogates-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"making-and-cultural-use","name":"Making and cultural use","description":"Connects production and use to specific people, places, techniques and social settings.","layers":[{"id":"production-context","name":"Production context","description":"Documents making and attribution with explicit evidential limits.","findings":[{"id":"makers-materials-techniques","name":"Makers, materials and techniques","description":"Record supported claims about makers, dates, materials and techniques, distinguishing observation from interpretation.","questions":[{"text":"Which makers, workshops or communities are associated with production, and on whose evidence?","id":"makers-materials-techniques-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What observations or analyses support the proposed materials, techniques and creation date range?","id":"makers-materials-techniques-q02","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"use-and-transformation","name":"Use and transformation","description":"Tracks changes in function and cultural setting during the artifact's history.","findings":[{"id":"artifact-use-history","name":"Artifact use history","description":"Record documented uses, alterations and changes of role rather than inferring one timeless function.","questions":[{"text":"What evidence supports the artifact's proposed everyday, ceremonial, commercial or political uses?","id":"artifact-use-history-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which modifications or changes of setting altered its function, identity or significance?","id":"artifact-use-history-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"meaning-and-cultural-authority","name":"Meaning and cultural authority","description":"Records situated interpretations and the parties entitled or recognised to speak about particular aspects.","layers":[{"id":"attributed-significance","name":"Attributed significance","description":"Keeps meanings attached to interpreters and contexts.","findings":[{"id":"plural-interpretations","name":"Plural interpretations","description":"Record names, meanings and significance as attributed claims, including disagreement and historical change.","questions":[{"text":"What names and meanings do relevant communities and other interpreters give this artifact?","id":"plural-interpretations-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which interpretations conflict, and what sources and periods does each represent?","id":"plural-interpretations-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"knowledge-and-consultation","name":"Knowledge and consultation","description":"Identifies authority and disclosure conditions for culturally sensitive knowledge.","findings":[{"id":"interpretive-authority","name":"Interpretive authority","description":"Record who should be consulted about naming, interpretation or disclosure and the documented scope of that authority.","questions":[{"text":"Who is recognised by relevant communities as authorised to advise on this artifact, and for which decisions?","id":"interpretive-authority-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What information may be recorded or disclosed, to whom, and under what documented conditions?","id":"interpretive-authority-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"provenance-custody-and-claims","name":"Provenance, custody and claims","description":"Traces movement and possession while distinguishing evidence from assertions of legitimate authority.","layers":[{"id":"movement-and-acquisition","name":"Movement and acquisition","description":"Documents recovery, transfers and losses of contextual information.","findings":[{"id":"provenance-events-and-gaps","name":"Provenance events and gaps","description":"Record evidenced movement and acquisition events, their circumstances and missing links.","questions":[{"text":"Which records or testimonies support each known recovery, removal, sale, gift or transfer?","id":"provenance-events-and-gaps-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Where are dates, locations, consent or transfer circumstances missing or disputed?","id":"provenance-events-and-gaps-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"competing-authority-claims","name":"Competing authority claims","description":"Distinguishes present custody from ownership claims and cultural responsibilities.","findings":[{"id":"custodians-claimants-and-return","name":"Custodians, claimants and return","description":"Record claimants, supporting evidence and the state of custody or return discussions without adjudicating unsupported conclusions.","questions":[{"text":"Who holds the artifact, who claims ownership or custodial responsibility, and what supports each position?","id":"custodians-claimants-and-return-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What documented process and authorised participants govern a proposed custody change or return?","id":"custodians-claimants-and-return-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"condition-and-cultural-continuity","name":"Condition and cultural continuity","description":"Assesses survival, alteration and care in relation to what relevant parties consider significant.","layers":[{"id":"material-and-digital-integrity","name":"Material and digital integrity","description":"Records the artifact's observed condition and dependencies.","findings":[{"id":"condition-and-authenticity-evidence","name":"Condition and authenticity evidence","description":"Distinguish measurable condition, documented intervention and attributed judgements about authenticity.","questions":[{"text":"What deterioration, missing parts, repairs or digital failures have been observed, when and by which methods?","id":"condition-and-authenticity-evidence-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which parties regard particular materials, functions or histories as essential to authenticity, and why?","id":"condition-and-authenticity-evidence-q02","kind":"definition"}]}]},{"id":"care-and-renewal","name":"Care and renewal","description":"Connects proposed treatment to cultural continuity and physical or digital preservation.","findings":[{"id":"appropriate-intervention","name":"Appropriate intervention","description":"Record acceptable treatment, renewal and retirement practices together with unresolved tradeoffs.","questions":[{"text":"Would cleaning, repair, replacement or digital migration preserve or disrupt the qualities relevant communities value?","id":"appropriate-intervention-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"Do documented obligations call for continued use, renewal, restricted storage, retirement or another treatment?","id":"appropriate-intervention-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"access-representation-and-reuse","name":"Access, representation and reuse","description":"Determines the conditions for encounters with the artifact and circulation of its representations.","layers":[{"id":"encounter-and-display","name":"Encounter and display","description":"Records culturally situated conditions for handling, study and exhibition.","findings":[{"id":"permitted-encounters","name":"Permitted encounters","description":"Record action-specific permissions and restrictions, including their source and current applicability.","questions":[{"text":"What conditions govern who may handle, view, study or display this artifact, and in which settings?","id":"permitted-encounters-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"Who established each condition, and what evidence shows that it applies to the proposed encounter?","id":"permitted-encounters-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"images-copies-and-derived-use","name":"Images, copies and derived use","description":"Separates permissions for the artifact from permissions for content and representations.","findings":[{"id":"representation-permissions","name":"Representation permissions","description":"Record applicable rights, cultural conditions and attribution requirements for reproduction and downstream use.","questions":[{"text":"Which permissions concern the artifact, its embodied work, an existing photograph or a proposed new reproduction?","id":"representation-permissions-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What evidence supports allowing publication, adaptation, commercial reuse or model training, and what conditions remain unresolved?","id":"representation-permissions-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-confidence-notes","name":"Check these first","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these check these first hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-confidence-notes-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-kinds","name":"Kinds and varieties","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-kinds-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-identifiers","name":"Identifiers and schemes","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-identifiers-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-standards-and-regulation","name":"Standards and regulation","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-regional-variation","name":"Regional variation","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-regional-variation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of cultural artifact this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe and catalogue cultural artifacts from collection records, citing provenance where known.","Report the condition of artifacts it is authorized to monitor in a collection."],"mustNot":["Help loot, smuggle or sell artifacts without lawful provenance and export permits.","Display or publish sacred or restricted artifacts against the wishes of the communities that hold them.","Handle fragile artifacts without the curator's procedures.","Fabricate provenance or authenticity claims."],"requiresHuman":["Repatriation, deaccession or sale decisions.","Moving or conserving a fragile or sacred artifact."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Artifacts carry the identity and memory of the communities that made them.","Colonial-era acquisitions raise questions of restitution and consent."],"affectedParties":["Source communities","Museums and collectors","The public"]},"owners":{"steward":"The holding institution or lawful owner; source communities may hold cultural rights over it.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Museum collection management records","Stolen art and cultural property databases"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q16686448","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q8205328","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.cultural-artifact","Wikidata: Q1791627 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1791627)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Artifact boundary: single object | composite object | bounded assemblage | born-digital artifact | unresolved","Cultural attribution: Links to communities, traditions or cultural contexts, with attribution source, period and uncertainty","Making and transformation: Links to makers, workshops, techniques, places and creation or modification events","Creation date range: Earliest and latest dates with calendar, precision and evidential basis","Embodied work and reproduction relationships: embodies work | version of | replica of | surrogate of | derived from | no relationship established","Attributed significance: Historical, ritual, social, artistic, political or evidential significance attributed by identified parties","Integrity and condition: Observed completeness, deterioration, repairs and digital accessibility, with assessment date and method","Provenance confidence: Evidence-supported events, uncertain links, gaps and disputed transitions","Custody and authority: Links to custodians, ownership claimants, cultural authorities and decision mandates","Cultural access conditions: Action-specific conditions concerning audience, purpose, season, place, representation and required consultation"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["An object bearing marks of human making or use, such as tool traces, decoration or wear.","Accession numbers, labels or catalogue tags in collections."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Identify and compare artifacts while distinguishing originals, associated parts, replicas and digital surrogates.","Assemble an evidence-linked history of making, use, movement and transformation.","Present attributed interpretations and disagreements without collapsing them into one authoritative meaning.","Assess handling, conservation or digital preservation proposals against both observed condition and cultural requirements.","Determine which authorities, permissions and restrictions apply to a proposed display, study, reproduction or reuse.","Prepare an evidence record for consultation, custody review or return discussions while preserving unresolved claims."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Poor handling, light and humidity can damage or destroy artifacts.","Illicit trade strips artifacts of context and can fund conflict."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, 1970, UNESCO."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Cultural artifacts are encountered in everyday life, archaeological sites, museums, archives and community collections.","They provide evidence for studying how people made objects, communicated ideas and organized social or ceremonial practices.","Their interpretation and care depend on provenance, cultural context and the knowledge and rights of associated communities."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1791627: cultural artifact","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1791627","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Cultural artifact","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_artifact","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Does the registry intend cultural artifact to include conceptual and intangible products, or should those remain linked neighbouring things under this bounded-artifact scope?","Where should the boundary fall for culturally adopted but unmodified natural objects and artifacts incorporating human remains?","For born-digital artifacts, what establishes continuity across copying, migration, emulation and collaborative revision?","How should conflicting community accounts and mandates be represented when no single authority is recognised across all relevant parties?","Which existing Vercy world model, if any, already owns this concept, and which external heritage vocabularies should supply compatible distinctions without forcing work-expression-manifestation-item categories onto every artifact?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1791627/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1791627/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T08:56:16Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T12:16:29+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane INF: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}