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Cultural Artifact & Heritage

This meta-model describes artifacts of cultural and historical significance: the object itself with its materials and making, the provenance chain and attribution research that establish what it is and where it has been, and the designation, conservation and custody apparatus that protects it. It is its own model because for heritage objects the history of the object is as much the subject as the object, and because designation and repatriation semantics exist for no other item family.

AI YAMLAGENTS.mdSource
IDworld.m9-cultural-artifact-and-heritage
Version history0.2.0-legacy
CategoryReference example
IndustryCross-industry
Domainmatter-artifacts
Tagscultural, artifact, heritage
Data structure

Bundles and layers

Bundle

object

What the artifact is

Layers

artifactIdentity`: titles, accession numbers, physical description, measurements · `materialsAndTechnique`: materials, techniques and marks of making · `significance`: assessed cultural and historical significance with basis and assessor

Bundle

provenance

How we know its history

Layers

provenanceChain`: chronological record of making, ownership, transfer and discovery episodes · `attributionResearch`: maker, date and origin hypotheses with evidence and standing

Bundle

care

Keeping the artifact safe and whole

Layers

conservationCondition`: condition surveys and treatments · `custodyAndLoan`: current custodian, collection membership, loans and movements

Bundle

protection

Public protection standing

Layers

heritageDesignation`: listings, protection categories, export restrictions and their basis

Findings

Catalogue-native findings must describe the information grouped by each layer. This legacy version does not declare them separately.

Questions & artifacts

Questions, artifact requirements and serial naming rules are required by Vercy vNext; they remain unassigned in this reference version.

Service layers

How this specification operates

Dimension & namespace

  • EXTEND `world.physicalItem` (M2): an artifact is an item; instance identity, condition and custody mechanics are inherited and deepened.
  • REFERENCE `world.materialSubstance` (M1): materials and technique media resolve to substance and material classes.
  • REFERENCE `world.person` (H1): makers, previous owners and researchers resolve to person identities.
  • REFERENCE `world.organization` (O1): museums, galleries and custodian institutions resolve to organization identities.
  • REFERENCE `world.place` (P1): find sites, origin regions and display locations resolve to place identities.
  • imports: cidoc-crm (ALIGN): event-centred documentation semantics for provenance and custody.
  • imports: lido (ALIGN): exchange format alignment for object descriptions.
  • imports: spectrum (ALIGN): collections management procedure alignment for accession, loan and condition workflows.

Canon, patches & standards

  • EXTEND `world.physicalItem` (M2): an artifact is an item; instance identity, condition and custody mechanics are inherited and deepened.
  • REFERENCE `world.materialSubstance` (M1): materials and technique media resolve to substance and material classes.
  • REFERENCE `world.person` (H1): makers, previous owners and researchers resolve to person identities.
  • REFERENCE `world.organization` (O1): museums, galleries and custodian institutions resolve to organization identities.
  • REFERENCE `world.place` (P1): find sites, origin regions and display locations resolve to place identities.
  • imports: cidoc-crm (ALIGN): event-centred documentation semantics for provenance and custody.
  • imports: lido (ALIGN): exchange format alignment for object descriptions.
  • imports: spectrum (ALIGN): collections management procedure alignment for accession, loan and condition workflows.

Artifact formats & serial data

Format-independent core. Concrete artifact formats and naming prefixes are not declared in this legacy version.

Policies & accepted processes

  • `researchAccess`: custodian-granted access to provenance and attribution layers for named researchers.
  • `exhibitionLoanAgreement`: the data counterpart of a loan, defining what object data travels with the loan and who may see it.
  • `reproductionLicence`: permission to reproduce images and descriptions of the object under stated terms.
  • `provenanceDisclosure`: disclosure of the custody and provenance chain to a claimant, court or diligence party.

Read / add / edit / delete

CRUD procedures and interface bindings are not declared in this legacy version.

Ownership, roles & access

Each artifact record is stewarded by its custodian, with a heritage authority archetype stewarding the designation layer; all research, loan and disclosure access is granted by the record owner through the catalogue's S1/S2 ownership and access models, and custody movements are traceable via S4 audit.

Existing assembly

Objects, relationships, events and projections

Objects

  • `artifact`: one heritage object; key attributes: title, accession reference, description, measurements.
  • `provenanceEntry`: one episode in the object's history; key attributes: episode kind, period, parties involved, evidence reference.
  • `attribution`: a maker, date or origin claim; key attributes: claim, basis, researcher reference, standing (accepted, disputed, rejected).
  • `significanceAssessment`: an assessed statement of significance; key attributes: dimension, statement, assessor reference, date.
  • `heritageDesignation`: a protection listing; key attributes: scheme, category, jurisdiction, effective period, restrictions.
  • `conservationRecord`: a condition survey or treatment; key attributes: record kind, findings, treatment applied, conservator reference.
  • `custodyRecord`: a period of custody; key attributes: custodian reference, basis (ownership, deposit, seizure), period.
  • `loan`: a temporary movement under agreement; key attributes: borrower reference, purpose, period, conditions.

Relationships

  • `artifact` -> documentedBy -> `provenanceEntry` (0..*, chronologically ordered): the provenance chain of the object.
  • `artifact` -> attributedTo -> `attribution` (0..*): competing attributions coexist with their standing recorded.
  • `artifact` -> assessedAs -> `significanceAssessment` (0..*): significance is stated, dated and attributable, never implicit.
  • `artifact` -> designatedUnder -> `heritageDesignation` (0..*): protection standings per scheme and jurisdiction.
  • `artifact` -> conditionRecordedIn -> `conservationRecord` (0..*): the care history of the object.
  • `artifact` -> inCustodyOf -> `custodyRecord` (exactly one current, 0..* historical): who holds the object now and before.
  • `artifact` -> movedUnder -> `loan` (0..*): loans overlay custody without transferring it.
  • `artifact` -> partOf -> `artifact` (0..1): sets, series and composite objects.

Events

  • `artifactAccessioned`: the object entered documented custody with an accession identity.
  • `provenanceEntryAdded`: research added or corrected an episode in the provenance chain.
  • `attributionRevised`: an attribution changed standing on new evidence.
  • `designationGranted`: a protection listing took effect for the object.
  • `conservationTreatmentCompleted`: a treatment or survey was completed and recorded.
  • `loanStarted`: the object left its custodian under a loan agreement.
  • `loanReturned`: the object returned from loan and the overlay closed.
  • `artifactRepatriated`: custody transferred to a claimant community or origin custodian.

Projections

  • `publicCatalogueView`: identity, description, imagery references and accepted attribution; omits location, security and loan details.
  • `scholarlyView`: full provenance chain, attribution research and conservation history; omits security logistics.
  • `custodyAuditView`: custody records, loans and designations; omits research content.