{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.ringfort","code":"thing-q92383","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q92383/","name":"ringfort","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.BLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A circular fortified settlement of the early medieval period in Ireland, Scotland and parts of Wales and Cornwall, consisting of an earthen bank and ditch or a drystone wall enclosing a farmstead, known in Ireland as a rath when earthen and a cashel when stone-built, with tens of thousands surviving as earthworks in the Irish landscape; ringforts were homes of farming families from about the 6th to 10th centuries and are protected as archaeological monuments and associated in folklore with fairies.","purpose":"Let an agent explain ringforts and their construction, relay dating, function and distribution from archaeological sources, describe folklore and protection, and distinguish ringforts from hillforts, promontory forts, crannogs and later enclosures.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Circular enclosure","Early medieval farmstead","Earth or stone","Dense distribution"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What a ringfort is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and types.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is a ringfort, and how do raths, cashels and multivallate forms differ?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about ringforts in general, a type or a specific site?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"distinguish","name":"Distinguish","description":"Related monuments.","findings":[{"id":"distinguish-finding","name":"Distinguish","description":"Distinguish.","questions":[{"text":"How do ringforts differ from hillforts, promontory forts, crannogs and later enclosures?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific monument type?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"archaeology","name":"Archaeology","description":"Archaeology.","layers":[{"id":"dating","name":"Dating","description":"Dating and function.","findings":[{"id":"dating-finding","name":"Dating","description":"Dating.","questions":[{"text":"When were ringforts built and used, and what were they for, with debates attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"excavation","name":"Excavation","description":"Excavations.","findings":[{"id":"excavation-finding","name":"Excavation","description":"Excavation.","questions":[{"text":"What have excavations revealed about houses, souterrains and finds?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"landscape","name":"Landscape","description":"Landscape and protection.","layers":[{"id":"distribution","name":"Distribution","description":"Distribution.","findings":[{"id":"distribution-finding","name":"Distribution","description":"Distribution.","questions":[{"text":"How are ringforts distributed across Ireland and Britain, and how are they mapped?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the Sites and Monuments Record?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"protection","name":"Protection","description":"Protection.","findings":[{"id":"protection-finding","name":"Protection","description":"Protection.","questions":[{"text":"How are ringforts protected, and what threats do they face?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits archaeological heritage law?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Folklore and visiting.","layers":[{"id":"folklore","name":"Folklore","description":"Fairy forts.","findings":[{"id":"folklore-finding","name":"Folklore","description":"Folklore.","questions":[{"text":"Why are ringforts called fairy forts, and how has folklore helped preserve them?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Irish folklore?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"visiting","name":"Visiting","description":"Visiting.","findings":[{"id":"visiting-finding","name":"Visiting","description":"Visiting.","questions":[{"text":"Which ringforts can be visited, such as Grianan of Aileach and Staigue?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific site?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe ringforts, raths and cashels and where they survive.","Report ringforts to national monument records with location."],"mustNot":["Recommend levelling, ploughing or building on a ringfort.","Encourage metal detecting or digging at a ringfort.","Present folklore about fairy forts as fact or as worthless superstition.","Direct visitors onto private farmland without the owner's permission."],"requiresHuman":["Any works that disturb a recorded ringfort."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Tens of thousands survive, but agriculture and development destroy them each year.","Ringforts carry strong local folklore and respect in rural communities."],"affectedParties":["Landowners and farmers","Local communities","Archaeologists"]},"owners":{"steward":"The landowner; national monument services protect recorded sites.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["National sites and monuments records"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q1349587","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"earthworks","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"fortified settlement","type":"related","note":"in general terms"},{"target":"hillfort","type":"related","note":"a larger prehistoric enclosure"},{"target":"National Monuments Act","type":"related","note":"in Ireland"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.ringfort","Wikidata: Q92383 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q92383)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["surviving in Ireland: about 45000 count - estimates","typical internal diameter: 20-45 m","main period: 6th-10th centuries period"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Circular early medieval enclosure","Rath of earth, cashel of stone","Hillforts are larger and prehistoric; crannogs are lake dwellings; promontory forts use coastal cliffs","A circular bank and ditch, or a stone wall, enclosing a level area in farmland."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain construction","relay dating and function","describe folklore and protection","distinguish related monuments"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Destruction by agriculture and development","Confusing ringforts with other enclosures","Dating debates, to be attributed"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Irish National Monuments Acts and Record of Monuments and Places","Northern Ireland and UK scheduled monument protection","Planning rules affecting archaeological sites"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; an archaeological monument.","univallate raths","multivallate raths with several banks","cashels of drystone","platform and raised raths","ringforts with souterrains","Scottish and Welsh equivalents"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q92383: ringfort","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q92383","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Ringfort","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringfort","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should rath and cashel be separate entries?","How should archaeological sources be linked?","How should folklore be recorded alongside archaeology?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q92383/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q92383/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T07:14:03Z","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":"filled","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 2026-10-06T19:52:03+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}