linstock
Enable an agent to recognise a linstock, assess its completeness and condition, and determine appropriate documentation, conservation or handling actions.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
5 bundles · 9 layers · 12 findings · 20 questions
Identity and boundaries Establish what makes the registered thing a linstock and how uncertain examples are represented.
Match-holder identity
Assess the features supporting identification as an artillery match holder.
Functional identification
Require an evidenced match-retention feature or documentary identification; a catalogue label alone may need qualification.
- Which surviving feature supports identification as a holder for slow match? definition
- What evidence distinguishes this candidate from a spear, halberd or another staff-mounted implement? boundary
Assembly and neighbours
Separate the linstock from its consumable, associated gun and incomplete surviving parts.
Object boundary
Represent the holder as the thing, with component and association links that do not absorb the match or cannon.
- Does the record describe a complete linstock, a detached head or an attributed fragment? boundary
- Which attached or associated items belong to separate slow-match, artillery or collection records? boundary
Head, staff and retention Describe the physical arrangement that supports and retains the match.
Match-retention geometry
Record the configuration and surviving condition of the match holders.
Holder form
Describe the actual retention features without treating one elaborate historical design as universal.
- How many match-retaining features survive, and what are their shapes and attachment methods? measurement
- Which features are original, bent, missing or restored according to examination records? provenance
Staff and head assembly
Record dimensions, materials and the connection between working head and staff.
Assembly evidence
Keep complete-object measurements separate from component measurements and identify replacement staffs explicitly.
- What are the measured overall and component dimensions, and which parts were present during measurement? measurement
- What evidence establishes the materials and originality of the staff, head and attachment? provenance
Historical function and variation Connect physical features to documented artillery use and additional historical roles.
Artillery association
Distinguish documented service relationships from inferred compatibility.
Service context
Record the evidence linking an example or variant to artillery service without supplying firing instructions.
- Which collection record, inventory or historical depiction supports its artillery association? provenance
- Is association with a particular gun, crew or setting documented or inferred? provenance
Secondary features
Interpret blades and ornament without making them necessary attributes of every linstock.
Defence and rank
Some documented examples combine match-holding arms with a defensive blade and decoration associated with artillery rank. [Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/26684)
- Does this example carry a blade or point, and what evidence supports its attributed purpose? definition
- What evidence supports interpreting its decoration as rank display rather than ornament alone? provenance
Condition and action Connect the condition of the linstock and any attached match to justified handling decisions.
Structural condition
Assess the staff, head attachment and projecting retention features before movement or mounting.
Handling integrity
Record component instability and deterioration, including uncertainty where an assembly has not been examined.
- Are the head attachment, staff and match-retaining projections stable according to the latest assessment? measurement
- What support or handling restrictions follow from the recorded damage and component mass? action
Match state and use permission
Separate attached-match condition, physical capability and authorisation for the proposed activity.
Action eligibility
Do not infer demonstration suitability from completeness, reproduction status or historical use.
- Is attached material identified, and is its heat or combustion state known? measurement
- Which recorded condition assessment and applicable institutional rules permit the proposed handling, display or demonstration? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of linstock this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of linstock this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of linstock this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of linstock this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.OBJ
What it is Filled
A linstock is a staff with a holder for a lighted slow match, historically used to ignite the priming powder at a cannon's vent while keeping the gunner some distance from it.
In scope
- Staff, match-holding head and their attachment
- Physical interface with separately modelled slow match
- Identification of complete, fragmentary and reconstructed examples
- Evidence of artillery service, secondary weapon features or rank display
- Condition and restrictions relevant to conservation, display and handling
Out of scope
- Slow-match composition, manufacture and combustion chemistry
- Cannon, carriage, propellant and ammunition models
- Artillery firing procedures and crew drill
- Gunlocks and other independent ignition mechanisms
- General polearm typology beyond features needed to distinguish linstocks
Why it exists Filled
Enable an agent to recognise a linstock, assess its completeness and condition, and determine appropriate documentation, conservation or handling actions.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Look for a staff-mounted arrangement specifically intended to retain slow match; a shaft and blade alone do not establish linstock identity.
- Distinguish the durable holder from the consumable match cord it carries.
- Distinguish a separately handled match holder from a firing mechanism mounted on a gun.
- Do not exclude elaborate or bladed examples: documented linstocks combine match holders with defensive blades and rank-signalling decoration. [Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/26684)
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Help anyone fire a muzzle-loading gun outside a licensed, supervised demonstration.
- Give guidance on handling black powder or slow match.
- Misattribute a replica as an original antique.
Only with a human decision
- Using a linstock in any live firing demonstration.
May
- Describe the linstock and its role in historical artillery, with sources.
- Catalogue and care for linstocks in museum collections.
Moral aspects Filled
- Historical weapons are heritage, but live firing still endangers people.
Who is affected
- Re-enactors
- Spectators
- Museum visitors
Owners Filled
Steward
The museum, collector or re-enactment group that holds it.
Master systems
- Museum collection catalogues
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q111337375 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.linstock
- Wikidata: Q953721 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q953721)
Direct properties required Filled
- Identification confidence: confirmed; probable; uncertain; disputed
- Match-holder configuration: Record holder count, shape, retention method and evidence of alteration
- Surviving assembly: complete assembly; head only; staff only; fragment; reconstructed assembly; unknown
- Overall and component dimensions: mm, separately identifying overall length, head length, head width and staff diameter
- Assembly mass: g, with measured components identified
- Component materials: Observed or analysed material for staff, head, fasteners and surface finish; unknown where unverified
- Head and staff integrity: Record looseness, cracks, deformation, corrosion, missing fasteners and assessment date
- Attached match condition: absent; inert representation; present and unlit; smouldering; extinguished but potentially hot; unknown
- Historical attribution: Links to dated records, collection entries, attributed region and documented service context
- Originality and permitted use: Record original, reproduction, composite or uncertain status separately from display, handling or demonstration authorisation
Recognition required Filled
- A wooden staff, often with a pointed foot, topped by a forked or decorated metal holder.
- The holder grips a length of slow match at the head.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Classify a candidate from match-holder features and supporting records.
- Document head, staff and replacements as components of one assembly.
- Compare dimensions and holder configurations across evidenced examples.
- Flag unstable attachments or uncertain attached material for specialist assessment.
- Select conservation, display or handling actions supported by recorded condition and permissions.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- A lit match near black powder can cause accidental ignition and burns.
Standards and interfaces not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
No dedicated contemporary product standard applies to a linstock considered solely as a historical collection object.
Context of use required Filled
- Linstocks occur in historical artillery collections, archaeological assemblages and interpretations of early gunpowder warfare.
- They held a burning slow match for cannon ignition while providing some separation between the gunner and the vent.
- Present-day assessment commonly concerns identification, documentation and conservation of the staff and match holder.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q953721: linstock - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Linstock - general description of the item
Open questions
- Which historical and regional sources establish the full range of linstock forms, including plain staffs without elaborate metal heads?
- What terminology reliably separates linstocks from portfire holders and other match-supporting implements in different collections?
- What dimension and mass ranges emerge from a representative sample after separating complete examples, detached heads and replacement staffs?
- Which examination methods can distinguish original match-retention features and staffs from later restorations?
- Which current institutional requirements apply to reproduction linstocks used in demonstrations, and how do they differ by jurisdiction?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q953721/spec.json