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PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology

New to PLATO? Start with the guide: why PLATO, and how to organise data about places in an ordinary spreadsheet. This page is the formal reference.

Release: 2026-02-16

Revision:: 0.5.0
Authors:: Stephen Gadd ✉
Contributors:: Pelagios Network Place Working Group
See also:: https://pelagios.org/place-attestation-ontology/index-en.html
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Cite as:: Stephen Gadd. PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology. Revision: 0.5.0.

Provenance of this page

Ontology Specification Draft

PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology: Overview back to ToC

This ontology has the following classes and properties.

Classes

PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology: Description back to ToC

An ontology for representing historical place knowledge as attestations: bundles of evidence linking SpatialEntities (settlements, routes, networks, administrative units, regions and other entities whose identity is bound up with space) to Names, Geometries, Timespans, Types, PropertyValues and Authorities with full provenance. Developed by the Pelagios Network's Place Working Group, led by the Institute for Spatial History Innovation (ISHI), University of Pittsburgh. PLATO formalises the WHG v4 data model, in which the Attestation is the fundamental unit of contributed knowledge. The Linked Places Format (LPF) is defined as its single-object-attestation profile: every LPF element corresponds to one attestation linking one entity to one name, type, geometry or related entity, so existing LPF files remain valid. The use cases of Linked Traces are accommodated within the same model.

Cross-reference for PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology classes, object properties and data properties back to ToC

This section provides details for each class and property defined by PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology.

Classes

Attestation^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Attestation

A bundle of evidence asserting that a particular SpatialEntity had a particular Name, Geometry, Type, or combination thereof, during a particular Timespan, according to a particular Authority. The Attestation node carries only metadata; its semantic content is defined entirely by its outgoing relationships. IMPORTANT: Attestations are document nodes in the graph, not edges. They are instances of plato:Attestation (a class), not instances of owl:ObjectProperty. This design enables meta-attestations and full provenance tracking.

has super-classes: Entity ^c
is in domain of: attests about ^op, attests geometry ^op, attests name ^op, attests property ^op, attests timespan ^op, attests type ^op, connection metadata ^dp, contributed by ^op, created ^dp, form status ^op, has citation ^op, has relation type ^op, meta-attestation about ^op, meta-attestation type ^op, modified ^dp, negated ^dp, notes ^dp, occurrence context ^op, occurrence count ^dp, relates to ^op, sequence ^dp, source stance ^op, sourced by ^op
is in range of: contains attestation ^op, meta-attestation about ^op

Authority^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Authority

Abstract superclass for all reference entities that provide provenance or semantic grounding for attestations. Subtypes include Source, Dataset, Period, RelationType, and CertaintyLevel.

has sub-classes: Certainty Level ^c, Dataset ^c, Period ^c, Relation Type ^c, Source ^c
is in domain of: authority URI ^dp, bibliographic string ^dp, title ^dp, version ^dp
is in range of: cites ^op, identity sourced by ^op, sourced by ^op

Candidate^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Candidate

An algorithm-generated match candidate between two SpatialEntities, produced by the PLACE clustering engine. Candidates carry a similarity score, algorithm version, and review status. They are explicitly not IdentityRelations — they become IdentityRelations only when confirmed by a human reviewer (linked back via plato:promoted_from).

is in domain of: algorithm version ^dp, candidate entity ^op, generated at ^dp, similarity score ^dp, source entity ^op, status ^dp
is in range of: promoted from ^op

Certainty Level^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#CertaintyLevel

A defined level of certainty for use in attestations, allowing projects to standardise their confidence vocabulary. An attestation or facet points at one with plato:certainty_level. PLATO declares the three levels of Linked Places Format (plato:Certain, plato:LessCertain, plato:Uncertain); a project may declare its own.

has super-classes: Authority ^c
is in range of: certainty level ^op
has members: Certain ⁿⁱ, Less Certain ⁿⁱ, Uncertain ⁿⁱ

Citation^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Citation

One attestation's use of one Authority: the qualified form of plato:sourced_by. Carries what is true of this citation rather than of the source or of the attestation: the locator within the work (page, folio, column, table cell, entry), and whether the attribution was stated in the source or inferred editorially. It carries no date. The date of a witness belongs on the Source (plato:source_timespan) and the date of the claim on the Attestation's Timespan. An attestation resting on several sources has several Citations, each with its own locator. Where there is nothing to say about the citation, plato:sourced_by alone is sufficient.

is in domain of: attribution status ^op, citation function ^op, cites ^op, locator ^dp
is in range of: has citation ^op

Contributor^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Contributor

A person, team, or automated process that creates attestations. Aligned with both foaf:Agent and prov:Agent for provenance chain-of-custody tracking. Contributors should be identified using persistent identifiers where possible. For persons, ORCID (https://orcid.org/) is strongly recommended and may be required by specific implementations. ORCID identifiers should use the full URI format (https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000) rather than just the numeric portion, as ORCID is particular about proper URI formatting for linked data interoperability. For organizations, ROR (https://ror.org/) or ISNI identifiers are recommended. Proper identification ensures accurate attribution, enables citation, and supports research assessment.

has super-classes: Agent ^c, Agent ^c
is in domain of: ORCID ^dp, affiliation ^op, affiliation (string) ^dp, contributor URL ^dp, contributor identifier ^dp, contributor name ^dp, contributor role ^dp, email ^dp
is in range of: asserted by ^op, contributed by ^op, owner ^op

Dataset^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Dataset

A collection-level authority: a published gazetteer, a contributed dataset, or an external authority corpus (GeoNames, Wikidata, TGN, OSM, Pleiades). Carries metadata such as title, version, publisher, and URI, and a licence (dcterms:license, as for any Authority).

has super-classes: Authority ^c
is in domain of: licence ^dp, publisher ^dp
is in range of: part of ^op

Gazetteer^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Gazetteer

A mutable, versioned workspace of SpatialEntities and their associated Attestations, owned by a contributor or team. Replaces the WHG v3 concepts of Dataset, Dataset Collection, and Place Collection. A Gazetteer can be incrementally edited, enriched, and corrected without re-ingestion. As a dcat:Dataset, a Gazetteer is titled with dcterms:title and licensed with dcterms:license. Not with plato:authority_title or plato:licence: their domains are plato:Authority and plato:Dataset, so using them would make the Gazetteer one of the Authorities it contains attestations about. Versions, and so citations that reproduce. A SpatialEntity's evidence grows and is corrected while its identity stays the same, so a citation of it must say which state was meant. For the same reason as above, a Gazetteer's version uses DCAT 3's own properties, not a PLATO one: dcat:version for its version indicator, and, for a frozen snapshot published under its own IRI, dcat:isVersionOf (the living Gazetteer) and dcat:previousVersion (the snapshot before). A SpatialEntity is then cited as its IRI plus the Gazetteer version, one number per gazetteer rather than one per entity, as PeriodO cites. Once a Gazetteer's plato:gazetteer_status is 'published', its attestations are append-only, and this is normative: an attestation is never deleted or changed. A correction is a new attestation with a meta-attestation (plato:Supersedes, plato:Contradicts), and a withdrawal is a meta-attestation of type plato:Retracts. Each carries plato:created. The state as of any moment D is then a filter over the data: the attestations created by D, less those superseded or retracted by D. A supersession or retraction takes effect only while it holds itself, so retracting a retraction restores its target, and a chain of them resolves the same way; a cycle is an error in the data. A platform can offer that state on request, by datetime negotiation on the entity's IRI (RFC 7089, Memento); PLATO recommends this but does not require it, since it is behaviour of a server, not of data.

has super-classes: Dataset ^c
is in domain of: contains attestation ^op, contains entity ^op, contains identity relation ^op, member of group ^op, owner ^op, status ^dp

Gazetteer Group^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#GazetteerGroup

A thematic or organisational grouping of Gazetteers (e.g. 'EMEW — Gazetteer of Early Modern England and Wales').

is in range of: member of group ^op

Geometry^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Geometry

A spatial representation of a SpatialEntity's extent or location. Geometries are independent, reusable entities. The same Geometry may be referenced by multiple Attestations across different SpatialEntities or time periods. Note: GeometryCollection is not supported in some graph database implementations. For heterogeneous geometry sets (e.g., both point and polygon), use multiple Geometry entities linked through separate attestations.

has super-classes: Geometry ^c
is in domain of: bounding box ^dp, convex hull ^op, geometry GeoJSON ^dp, geometry WKT ^op, geometry role ^op, precision in kilometers ^dp, relative qualifier ^op, relative to ^op, representative point ^op, source CRS ^dp, spatial precision ^dp
is in range of: attests geometry ^op

Identity Relation^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#IdentityRelation

An assertion that two SpatialEntities refer to the same real-world entity. Carries its own provenance (who asserted it, on what basis), certainty (how confident the assertion is), and identity semantics (exactMatch, closeMatch, related). Identity relations are distinct from scholarly entity-to-entity relations, which describe substantive historical relationships between different entities. They are also distinct from Candidates, which are algorithm-generated candidates not yet confirmed by human review.

is in domain of: asserted at ^dp, asserted by ^op, identity basis ^dp, identity certainty ^dp, identity object ^op, identity sourced by ^op, identity subject ^op, identity type ^dp, promoted from ^op
is in range of: contains identity relation ^op

Name^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Name

A toponym or appellation for a SpatialEntity. Names are independent, reusable entities. The association between a Name and a SpatialEntity is always mediated by an Attestation, which provides temporal scope and provenance.

is in domain of: IPA ^dp, language ^dp, name embedding ^dp, name type ^dp, relative qualifier ^op, relative to ^op, romanized ^dp, script ^dp, toponym ^dp, transliteration system ^dp
is in range of: attests name ^op, relative to ^op

Organization^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Organization

An organization to which a Contributor is affiliated. This is a lightweight class defined primarily to avoid ambiguity in ontology visualizations. Organizations can be further described using properties from FOAF, schema.org, or other ontologies. Organizations should use persistent identifiers where possible: - ROR (Research Organization Registry): https://ror.org/ - ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier) - Wikidata QIDs

is in range of: affiliation ^op

Period^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Period

A named historical period (e.g. 'Byzantine', 'Early Modern'), optionally linked to PeriodO or defined locally. Includes temporal bounds for period-based querying.

has super-classes: Authority ^c
is in domain of: PeriodO URI ^dp, has timespan ^op, period label ^dp, spatial coverage ^dp
is in range of: relative to ^op

Property Value^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#PropertyValue

A quantitative or descriptive attribute of a SpatialEntity, expressed as a property drawn from an external vocabulary together with its value. Covers the many things a historical source says that are neither a name, a location, a period nor a classification — populations, valuations, elevations, recurrence rules for markets and fairs. The property itself is identified by URI rather than enumerated here, so the vocabulary stays open and delegated (Wikidata properties, CIDOC-CRM, project vocabularies), in the same way that Type delegates its classifications to AAT. Values may be literals (with a datatype and optional unit) or structured objects whose shape is declared by plato:value_type. As a facet node, a PropertyValue may carry the qualification properties (certainty, fuzziness) like any other. Where the value is another SpatialEntity, use an entity-to-entity relation instead; this class is for attributes of the entity. A person or organisation connected to it (the grantee of a market right, an owner, a lord of the manor) is such an attribute: the value is the agent's IRI, ideally in an authority such as Wikidata or VIAF, with value_datatype xsd:anyURI, and the property names the role, for example http://www.wikidata.org/prop/direct/P127 ('owned by'). This asserts nothing false, and needs no agent class: PLATO's own agent classes (Contributor, Organization) describe who recorded the data. A figure from a statistical table (a census count, a toll receipt) is a PropertyValue that is also a qb:Observation of the W3C RDF Data Cube vocabulary. It carries qb:dataSet (the table, a qb:DataSet), one direct statement for each of its coordinates with the table's qb:DimensionProperty predicates, one for each fact about the figure with qb:AttributeProperty predicates (sdmx-attribute:obsStatus for a cell's state), and plato:universe for the figure it is a part or share of. So the county is not said to have 'class 1': the observation is. The measure stays plato:property_type and plato:value_literal, and the area and date stay on the attestation; a cube export adds the direct measure statement, sdmx-dimension:refArea and refPeriod. A printed dash is an observation with an obsStatus and no value, never 0. Money is an exact integer in the smallest unit of its system of account (farthings, for sterling amounts with halfpennies), the unit an IRI from a fitting authority or minted by the encoding project, ideally naming a unit of account in a named system ('penny sterling'); PLATO mints no currency and converts nothing. A coordinate the source does not give is an explicit 'unknown' code. A table mixing measures is one qb:DataSet per measure. Dimension values are concepts, with the source's label as skos:prefLabel, in code lists the encoding project publishes where none exists. A statistical table in spreadsheet form keeps its own CSV on the Web description and links to places by place_id. The design, and its testing on three corpora, is issue #14. A latitude given without a longitude (a source's 'at 9.5 degrees north') is a PropertyValue, not a Geometry, since it is not a location: property http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#lat, the value in decimal degrees. A longitude alone is the same, with wgs84_pos#long.

is in domain of: property label ^dp, property type ^dp, structured value ^dp, universe ^op, value ^dp, value datatype ^dp, value type ^dp, value unit ^dp
is in range of: attests property ^op, universe ^op

Relation Type^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#RelationType

A vocabulary entry defining a semantic relationship between SpatialEntities: 'capital_of', 'successor_to', 'connected_by_trade_route_to', etc. Carries a label, an inverse label, and domain/range constraints. This allows the vocabulary of historical relationships to grow without modifying the core ontology.

has super-classes: Authority ^c
is in domain of: domain constraint ^dp, inverse label ^dp, range constraint ^dp, relation label ^dp
is in range of: has relation type ^op
has members: Contained In ⁿⁱ

Source^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Source

A citable source of evidence: a manuscript, chronicle, tax record, map, scholarly article, or other document. Sources are the primary provenance anchor for attestations. A Source may reference its parent Dataset via plato:partOf. A Source's licence, that of the edition or copy cited, is given with dcterms:license, as a Gazetteer's is. A project that admits evidence by its licence (citing a share-alike source as a witness but never copying it, say) needs the licence on the thing cited, so that it travels with the data.

has super-classes: Authority ^c
is in domain of: derived from ^op, part of ^op, source timespan ^op
is in range of: derived from ^op

Spatial Entity^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#SpatialEntity

An entity whose identity is bound up with space, whether its spatial extent is attested directly, applies notionally (as with the region to which a period applies), or is derived from its constituents (as with a collection). A SpatialEntity need not have any attested geometry: lost, imagined and unlocated entities are admissible. What kind of entity it is (settlement, route, region, administrative unit, period and so on) is not fixed by the class. It is established by Type attestations, so a classification is a claim rather than an axiom. SpatialEntities are not defined by any single attestation. They are the point of convergence for many attestations from different sources, periods and contributors. PLATO defines no Place class and gives "place" no prescribed meaning. Many SpatialEntities are what people would call places and some are not, and the word is used differently across languages and disciplines. The ontology therefore neither equates a SpatialEntity with a place nor defines a place in terms of SpatialEntities or their attestations. Where the word appears in this document it is used in its ordinary sense.

has super-classes: Entity ^c
is in domain of: country codes ^dp, identifier ^dp, namespace ^dp
is in range of: attests about ^op, candidate entity ^op, contains entity ^op, identity object ^op, identity subject ^op, relates to ^op, relative to ^op, source entity ^op

Timespan^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Timespan

A temporal interval with start and end bounds. Timespans are independent, reusable entities that may be shared across multiple Attestations. Precision and uncertainty are expressed through the start and end bound properties. Aligned with W3C Time Ontology and compatible with PeriodO period definitions.

has super-classes: Proper Interval ^c
is in domain of: EDTF string ^dp, PeriodO URI ^dp, end earliest ^dp, end latest ^dp, end precision ^dp, open end ^dp, open start ^dp, precision value ^dp, relative qualifier ^op, relative to ^op, start earliest ^dp, start latest ^dp, start precision ^dp, timespan label ^dp
is in range of: attests timespan ^op, has timespan ^op, relative to ^op, source timespan ^op

Type^c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Type

A classification or category for a SpatialEntity, typically drawn from a controlled vocabulary such as the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT). Types are independent, reusable entities.

has super-classes: Concept ^c
is in domain of: relative qualifier ^op, relative to ^op, type identifier ^dp, type label ^dp
is in range of: attests type ^op, relative to ^op

Object Properties

affiliation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_affiliation

Organizational affiliation of the contributor. Links to a plato:Organization entity, which can be further described using FOAF, schema.org, or other ontology properties. Organizations should ideally use persistent identifiers (ROR, ISNI, etc.). For simple cases, use contributor_affiliation_string for free-text affiliation names.

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: Organization ^c

asserted by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_asserted_by

The agent who made or confirmed this identity assertion.

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: Contributor ^c

attests about^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#attests_about

Links an Attestation to the SpatialEntity it is about. Every attestation must have exactly one subject entity. This is the primary entity being described by the bundled name, geometry, timespan, and type assertions. Functional property: each attestation has exactly one subject entity.

has characteristics: functional

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Spatial Entity ^c

attests geometry^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#attests_geometry

Links an Attestation to a Geometry it asserts for the SpatialEntity. An attestation may assert multiple geometries (e.g., point and polygon) or no geometry at all (e.g., name-only attestations from textual sources).

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Geometry ^c

attests name^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#attests_name

Links an Attestation to a Name it asserts for the SpatialEntity. An attestation may assert multiple names (e.g., primary name and variants) or no name at all (e.g., geometry-only attestations).

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Name ^c

attests property^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#attests_property

Links an Attestation to a PropertyValue it asserts of the SpatialEntity — a population, a valuation, an elevation, a market's trading day. An attestation may assert several properties or none. These are among the commonest things a source says about an entity, and they carry exactly the provenance and temporal scoping the attestation pattern exists to handle: a population figure is a claim, by a named source, about one SpatialEntity, over a Timespan, with a certainty. The attestation's own timespans scope the property as they scope every other facet in the bundle.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Property Value ^c

attests timespan^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#attests_timespan

Links an Attestation to the Timespan during which the attested properties (name, geometry, type) were applicable. Distinct from the attestation's creation date: this is the historical timespan being asserted, not when the assertion was made.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Timespan ^c

attests type^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#attests_type

Links an Attestation to a Type classification it assigns to the SpatialEntity. An attestation may assert multiple types or no type at all.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Type ^c

attribution status^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#attribution_status

Whether the attribution of the evidence to the cited source was stated by the source or resolved editorially. Should point to a concept in a SKOS concept scheme. The starter concepts are: - plato:AttributionStated: the source is named where the form occurs. The default, and usually omitted. - plato:AttributionInferred: the source was given as 'ibidem' or 'idem' and resolved by an editor, so the attribution is inferred rather than stated. Not marginal: about one attestation in twenty in the English Place-Name Society corpus. A statement about the citation, not about the form, which is why it lives here and not in plato:occurrence_context.

has domain: Citation ^c
has range: Concept ^c

candidate entity^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#candidate_candidate

has domain: Candidate ^c
has range: Spatial Entity ^c

certainty level^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#certainty_level

Certainty as a word rather than a number: a CertaintyLevel, such as plato:Certain, plato:LessCertain or plato:Uncertain (the three of Linked Places Format), or one a project declares. Use it when certainty is stated in words, by a dataset or on a project's own scale, rather than inventing a number for plato:certainty; the two may also be given together. It is the same confidence as plato:certainty, the contributor's or editor's, not the source's: a source that hedges or reports is recorded with plato:source_stance. Like plato:certainty it has no rdfs:domain, so it can qualify an Attestation or any facet node.

has range: Certainty Level ^c

citation function^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#citation_function

Why the source is cited: as the evidence for the attestation, as a source of its data, as related reading, and so on. The value is a property of CiTO, the Citation Typing Ontology (http://purl.org/spar/cito/): cito:citesAsEvidence, cito:citesAsDataSource, cito:citesAsRelated, cito:citesForInformation, cito:citesAsRecommendedReading, or another of the properties below cito:cites. Only CiTO properties are used, so that every consumer reads the same function the same way; a project whose own vocabulary has other terms maps them to CiTO when it organises its data. Without it, 'this source is the evidence' and 'see this source for more' are the same link, which is the distinction an attestation model exists to make: 143,418 of Pleiades' 244,759 references are 'see further', and only 21,652 are cited as evidence. Absent, the function is unstated, as before; a consumer should not assume evidence. Only a property CiTO defines is a valid value. An IRI in the CiTO namespace is not enough: Pleiades writes cito:seeFurther and cito:seeAlso, which CiTO does not define, so the JSON Schema and the tables list the accepted properties exactly.

has domain: Citation ^c
has range: Property ^c

cites^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#cites

The Authority (a Source or a Dataset) this Citation uses. Exactly one per Citation: an attestation resting on two sources has two Citations.

has characteristics: functional

has domain: Citation ^c
has range: Authority ^c

contains attestation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contains_attestation

Links a Gazetteer to an Attestation contributed within it.

has domain: Gazetteer ^c
has range: Attestation ^c

contains entity^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contains_entity

Links a Gazetteer to a SpatialEntity it contains.

has domain: Gazetteer ^c
has range: Spatial Entity ^c

contains identity relation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contains_identity_relation

Links a Gazetteer to an IdentityRelation asserted within it. The submission profiles carry identity relations at the top level of a document, beside the entities and attestations, and this is the property that top level maps to.

has domain: Gazetteer ^c
has range: Identity Relation ^c

contributed by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributed_by

The agent (person, team, or process) who created this attestation. Semantically equivalent to PROV-O's prov:wasAttributedTo for provenance tracking. We don't use formal rdfs:subPropertyOf to avoid importing PROV-O's domain/range constraints. Distinct from sourced_by, which indicates the historical source being cited.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Contributor ^c

convex hull^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#hull

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: wkt Literal ^c
is also defined as: data property

derived from^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#derived_from

This Source is a copy, transcript, edition, calendar or confirmation of that one. A later cartulary copy of a charter, an inspeximus, or a printed edition of a manuscript is a Source of its own, with its own source_timespan, derived_from the document it transmits. An attestation should cite the Source it was actually read in; the chain of derived_from links records what that Source transmits. The kind of derivation (copy, edition, calendar, inspeximus) is not yet distinguished; a sub-property or a small vocabulary can be added when a project needs it.

has domain: Source ^c
has range: Source ^c

form status^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#form_status

The status of the name form this attestation contributes: read in the cited source, chosen by the cited authority, or derived by the contributing project. Should point to a concept in a SKOS concept scheme. The starter concepts are: - plato:Attested: a form read in the cited source. The default, and usually omitted. - plato:Headword: the editorial or preferred form under which the cited authority files the entry ('Bunsty Hundred'). A scholarly decision rather than a reading, and typically the form users search for. Another authority may choose differently, which is why it is a sourced attestation and not a label on the SpatialEntity. - plato:Normalised: a form derived from an attested one for matching or search ('Bunstow(e)' resolved to 'Bunstowe'), attested by no source and carrying no independent evidential value. It may point to the attestation it was derived from through a meta-attestation. - plato:Reconstructed: a form inferred but not attested, the philologists' asterisked form. - plato:Preferred: the form the contributing project prefers for display and search ('Ranny (Fort)'). A project decision, so the cited source may show a different form. A different axis from plato:name_type, which classifies what the name denotes: a headword is still a toponym. It sits on the Attestation, not on the Name, because the same string can be a reading in one attestation and a headword in another. The WHG ingestion prototype reached the same placement independently: its preferred-name flag is on the attestation, not on the toponym record.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Concept ^c

geometry role^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#geometry_role

What this geometry depicts, as distinct from how precisely it is known (plato:spatial_precision) or where its indexing point falls (plato:repr_point). A SpatialEntity may be attested with several geometries at once — a built extent, the location of a specific central feature, a proxy standing in for the whole, the anchor of a map label — and without a declared role a consumer cannot tell them apart, nor state which one an analysis used. Should point to a concept in a SKOS concept scheme (e.g. plato:Extent, plato:FeaturePoint, plato:RepresentativePoint, plato:LabelAnchor, plato:Itinerary). Using URIs rather than free text lets gazetteers that record geometry differently be compared. Note that role is orthogonal to precision: a proxy locator may be surveyed to the metre and still not depict the SpatialEntity it stands for. A parish church's coordinates contributed as a locator for a town are a representative point of high precision, not an imprecise feature point.

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: Concept ^c

geometry WKT^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#geo_wkt

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: wkt Literal ^c
is also defined as: data property

has citation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#has_citation

Links an Attestation to a Citation: its qualified use of one Authority, with a locator and an attribution status. An attestation may have several, one per source it rests on.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Citation ^c

has relation type^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#has_relation_type

Specifies the semantic type of a entity-to-entity relationship attested by an Attestation. References a RelationType authority which defines the relationship's label, inverse, and domain/range constraints. Examples: 'capital_of', 'successor_to', 'connected_by_trade_route_to'. The extensible vocabulary pattern allows new relationship types to be added as Authority records without modifying the ontology.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Relation Type ^c

has timespan^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#has_timespan

Links a Period authority to its temporal extent, represented as a Timespan node. Used for locally-defined periods or when more detailed temporal modeling is needed than provided by external period definitions.

has domain: Period ^c
has range: Timespan ^c

identity object^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_object

The second SpatialEntity in an identity assertion. Often a record in another authority, such as a GeoNames feature or a Wikidata item, which this range makes a SpatialEntity. That is intended: in PLATO an authority record is a SpatialEntity like any other, identified by its own URI, with its origin recorded in plato:namespace.

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: Spatial Entity ^c

identity sourced by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_sourced_by

The Authority (Source or Dataset) that provides evidence for this identity assertion, if any.

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: Authority ^c

identity subject^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_subject

The first SpatialEntity in an identity assertion.

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: Spatial Entity ^c

member of group^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#member_of_group

Links a Gazetteer to a GazetteerGroup.

has domain: Gazetteer ^c
has range: Gazetteer Group ^c

meta-attestation about^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#meta_attestation_about

Links a meta-Attestation to the Attestation it comments on or relates to. Used with plato:has_meta_type to specify the nature of the relationship. Example: A meta-attestation might assert that one source's geometry attestation contradicts another source's geometry attestation for the same SpatialEntity.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Attestation ^c

meta-attestation type^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#has_meta_type

The nature of a meta-attestation's relationship to its target attestation. Should reference a controlled vocabulary concept defining the relationship type. The starter concepts, declared in this ontology's MetaTypeScheme: - plato:Contradicts: asserts the target attestation is incorrect - plato:Supports: provides additional evidence for the target attestation - plato:Supersedes: replaces the target attestation with newer information - plato:Refines: provides more precise information than the target - plato:Challenges: questions the target attestation's validity - plato:Bundles: groups the target with other related attestations - plato:DerivedFrom: this attestation's value was derived from the target's (a normalised search form from an attested spelling) - plato:Annotates: adds a remark about the target, with its own source, without supporting, contradicting or refining it; the remark is the meta-attestation's notes - plato:AlternativeTo: this attestation and the target are alternative readings of the same evidence, at most one of them right - plato:Retracts: the target attestation is withdrawn by whoever made it, and kept only so that earlier states can be reproduced Using SKOS concepts rather than strings enables vocabulary management and multilingual labels.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Concept ^c

occurrence context^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#occurrence_context

The capacity in which the attested form occurs in the source. Should point to a concept in a SKOS concept scheme. The starter concepts are: - plato:Direct: the form refers to the SpatialEntity directly. The default, and usually omitted. - plato:InPersonalName: the form occurs only as an element of a personal name, a surname or by-name such as 'Willelmus de Bonestou'. This is the '(p)' of the place-name surveys, and it is weaker evidence for the name's currency, and for the entity's existence, than a direct attestation. Nothing else in the record distinguishes Bonestou the hundred from de Bonestou the man. - plato:InFieldName: the form survives only as an element of a later minor name, such as a field name. The editorially resolved 'ibidem' of the surveys is not an occurrence context. It is a statement about the citation, and belongs on the Citation as plato:attribution_status. Not a certainty. A '(p)' attestation may be entirely certain as an attestation; what differs is the kind of evidence it constitutes, and folding that into a lower plato:certainty would discard the reason.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Concept ^c

owner^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#gazetteer_owner

has domain: Gazetteer ^c
has range: Contributor ^c

part of^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#partOf

Links a Source to its parent Dataset.

has domain: Source ^c
has range: Dataset ^c

promoted from^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#promoted_from

Links an IdentityRelation to the Candidate from which it was promoted, preserving the algorithmic provenance. Optional: identity relations can also be created directly by human assertion without a prior Candidate.

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: Candidate ^c

relates to^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relates_to

Links an Attestation to a second SpatialEntity, asserting a relationship between the Attestation's subject entity (via attests_about) and this target entity. The semantic nature of the relationship is specified by plato:has_relation_type, which references a RelationType authority. Example: An attestation about Constantinople that relates_to the Byzantine Empire with relation_type "capital_of" asserts that "Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire".

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Spatial Entity ^c

relative qualifier^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relative_qualifier

A controlled-vocabulary term describing the relative relationship when bearing and distance are not applicable or not sufficient. Should point to a concept in a SKOS concept scheme (e.g. plato:Near, plato:Within, plato:Beyond, plato:UpstreamOf, plato:BetweenXAndY, plato:DuringReignOf, plato:VariantOf). Using URIs rather than free text enables machine reconciliation across gazetteers that describe relativity differently.

has domain: Geometry ^c or Name ^c or Timespan ^c or Type ^c
has range: Concept ^c

relative to^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relative_to

Links a facet node to its anchor entity, indicating that this facet is defined relationally rather than absolutely. The anchor is typically a SpatialEntity, Period, or another facet (Name, Timespan, etc.). Common patterns: - Spatial relativity: "20km east of Nanjing" (anchor is a SpatialEntity) - Temporal relativity: "during the reign of Justinian" (anchor is a Period) - Name relativity: "also known as Rome" (anchor is another Name)

has domain: Geometry ^c or Name ^c or Timespan ^c or Type ^c
has range: Name ^c or Period ^c or Spatial Entity ^c or Timespan ^c or Type ^c

representative point^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#repr_point

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: wkt Literal ^c
is also defined as: data property

source entity^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#candidate_source

has domain: Candidate ^c
has range: Spatial Entity ^c

source stance^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#source_stance

How firmly the source itself asserts what this attestation bundles: a concept in plato:SourceStanceScheme, plato:StanceAsserted (the default, usually omitted), plato:StanceReported, plato:StanceTentative or plato:StanceDoubted, or one a project declares. It records the source, not whoever encodes it: plato:certainty and plato:certainty_level are the contributor's or editor's confidence, and an editor may be quite certain that a source hedged. Nor is it plato:attribution_status, which says whether the source is named where the evidence occurs. Doubt is not denial. A source that raises a thing and declines to settle it is plato:StanceDoubted; one that says it is not so is plato:negated. A source that passes on a claim and names whom it reports can have that work cited as well. It qualifies the attestation as a whole, as plato:negated does, so bundle one facet per attestation where the source's stance differs between facets. A consumer that cannot express a stance reads the attestation as asserted, which overstates the source but does not invert it. So, unlike plato:negated, no consumer is required to leave it out, but a converter should report the loss.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Concept ^c

source timespan^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#source_timespan

When this Source, as a document, was produced: the date of the manuscript, the compilation of the cartulary, the publication of the edition. Distinct from the Timespan an attestation asserts, which dates the claim rather than the witness. An annal for 921 read in a manuscript written c. 925 has an attested timespan of 921 and a source timespan of c. 925. Reuses Timespan, so an approximate date is start_earliest 915, end_latest 935, timespan_label 'c. 925'. The same move as plato:has_timespan on a Period.

has domain: Source ^c
has range: Timespan ^c

sourced by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#sourced_by

Links an Attestation to the Authority (typically a Source or Dataset) that grounds it. This provides the provenance chain for the attestation. Semantically equivalent to PROV-O's prov:wasDerivedFrom, indicating the authority is the origin of the attested knowledge. We don't use formal rdfs:subPropertyOf to avoid importing PROV-O's domain/range constraints which conflict with PLATO's class structure. This is the direct form. Where the citation itself has something to say (a page or folio, an attribution resolved from 'ibidem'), use plato:has_citation to a Citation node that cites the Authority. sourced_by is declared as the property chain has_citation o cites, so a reasoner derives it from a Citation; data intended for consumers without a reasoner should assert it directly as well.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: Authority ^c
has sub-property chains: has citation ^op o cites ^op

transcription accuracy^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#transcription_accuracy

How faithfully a transcribed value (a name form, most often) renders what the source shows: a concept in plato:TranscriptionAccuracyScheme, plato:TranscriptionAccurate, plato:TranscriptionInaccurate or plato:TranscriptionFalse. It judges the reading, not the source and not the identification: plato:form_status says how a form came to be, and plato:certainty how sure anyone is of the attestation, and neither says how well the form was read. Pleiades records it for every name. Like the other qualification properties it has no rdfs:domain, so a transcribed coordinate or date can be judged the same way.

has range: Concept ^c

transcription completeness^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#transcription_completeness

Whether a transcribed value is whole: a concept in plato:TranscriptionCompletenessScheme, plato:TranscriptionComplete, plato:TranscriptionReconstructable (part is lost but can be supplied with confidence) or plato:TranscriptionNonReconstructable (part is lost and cannot be supplied). A different axis from accuracy: a damaged form can be accurately read as far as it goes. No rdfs:domain, as for accuracy.

has range: Concept ^c

universe^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#universe

The figure this figure is a part or share of: its denominator, where the source defines one. Asserted only from the source, never inferred from labels or sums: in Vision of Ireland three of seven plausible denominators by name are wrong. The occupied beside the total of the same row, or Vision of Ireland's Total Population cube as the universe of the others for the same unit and year. RDF Data Cube has no such property, and without it which number is the denominator of which is lost, unrecoverably once the table is gone.

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: Property Value ^c

Data Properties

affiliation (string)
algorithm version
asserted at
authority URI
bearing
bibliographic string
bounding box
certainty
certainty note
connection metadata
contributor identifier
contributor name
contributor role
contributor URL
country codes
created
distance
domain constraint
EDTF string
email
end earliest
end latest
end precision
fuzziness
fuzziness note
generated at
geometry GeoJSON
geometry WKT
identifier
identity basis
identity certainty
identity type
inverse label
IPA
language
licence
locator
modified
name embedding
name type
namespace
negated
notes
occurrence count
open end
open start
ORCID
period label
PeriodO URI
PeriodO URI
precision in kilometers
precision value
property label
property type
publisher
range constraint
relation label
romanized
script
sequence
similarity score
source CRS
source label
spatial coverage
spatial precision
start earliest
start latest
start precision
status
status
structured value
timespan label
title
toponym
transliteration system
type identifier
type label
value
value datatype
value type
value unit
version

affiliation (string)^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_affiliation_string

Free-text organizational affiliation when a structured Organization entity is not available. Example: "University of Pittsburgh, Institute for Spatial History Innovation"

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: string

algorithm version^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#algorithm_version

has domain: Candidate ^c
has range: string

asserted at^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_asserted_at

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: date Time

authority URI^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#authority_uri

has domain: Authority ^c
has range: any U R I

bearing^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relative_bearing

Compass bearing from the anchor, in degrees (0–360). Primarily used for relative geometries: '90' means east of the anchor. May carry its own certainty or fuzziness.

has range: float

bibliographic string^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#bibliographic_string

A formatted citation string for this source or other authority. The domain is Authority, not Source, because any authority can be cited formally, a dataset as much as a document. Restricting it to Source made a cited Dataset a Source as well, which the disjoint union of Authority forbids.

has domain: Authority ^c
has range: string

bounding box^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#bbox

Bounding box as array: [min_lon, min_lat, max_lon, max_lat]. Enables fast spatial filtering. Format: comma-separated string or JSON array depending on serialization context.

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: string

certainty^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#certainty

Epistemic certainty, from 0.0 (completely uncertain) to 1.0 (completely certain). On an Attestation it is the contributor's confidence in the bundle as a whole. On a facet node (Name, Geometry, Timespan, Type, PropertyValue) it is the confidence in that value alone, and may differ from the attestation's overall certainty. Certainty reflects the limits of evidence: better evidence could in principle raise it. Distinct from fuzziness (the referent has no sharp boundary) and from spatial_precision (how finely a location is specified). No rdfs:domain, so it can qualify any node. It is never the source's own confidence: how firmly a source asserts what it says (hedging, hearsay, doubt) is plato:source_stance.

has range: float

certainty note^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#certainty_note

Free-text explanation of the certainty assessment: quality of evidence, degree of scholarly consensus, reliability of source (e.g. 'manuscript partially illegible', 'coordinates extrapolated from itinerary distances'). Applies wherever certainty does.

has range: string

connection metadata^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#connection_metadata

Structured metadata for network-type attestations. Can encode information about trade goods, flow direction, capacity, frequency, or other properties of network connections. Format is implementation- specific (JSON recommended) but should be documented in the gazetteer's metadata.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: string

contributor identifier^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_identifier

Additional persistent identifier for the contributor. Can be used for identifiers other than ORCID, such as: - ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier) - VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) - Wikidata QID (for persons or organizations) - Internal system identifiers When using this property, specify the identifier type in the value (e.g., "ISNI:0000000121032683" or "VIAF:12345678").

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: string

contributor name^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_name

The name of the contributor (person, team, or automated process). For persons, should be the full name as preferred by the contributor. For teams, the team name. For automated processes, a descriptive name.

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: string

contributor role^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_role

Role of the contributor in the project or gazetteer. Examples: 'principal_investigator', 'data_curator', 'student_researcher', 'automated_process', 'external_contributor'. Helps understand the context and authority of contributions.

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: string

contributor URL^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_url

Website or profile URL for the contributor (personal website, institutional page, project page, GitHub profile, etc.). Provides additional context about the contributor's work and identity.

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: any U R I

country codes^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#ccodes

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes of the modern countries whose territory contains or overlaps this SpatialEntity, as in Linked Places Format. A finding aid for search and matching, like a label: not evidence, and not a claim about the past, so it needs no source. Where a country is itself the subject of a historical claim ("this town lay in the Kingdom of Aragon"), record it as a relation attestation.

has domain: Spatial Entity ^c
has range: string

created^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#created

Timestamp when this attestation was created. This is the contribution date, not the historical timespan being attested (use attests_timespan for that). In a published Gazetteer it is the time axis along which an earlier state is recomputed, so every attestation and meta-attestation there should carry it. Semantically equivalent to PROV-O's prov:generatedAtTime. We don't use formal rdfs:subPropertyOf to avoid importing PROV-O constraints.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: date Time

distance^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relative_distance

Distance from the anchor, in metres. Primarily used for relative geometries. May carry its own certainty or fuzziness.

has range: float

domain constraint^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relation_domain

Valid subject type for this relation.

has domain: Relation Type ^c
has range: string

EDTF string^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#edtf_string

Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF) representation of this timespan. Provides standardized string encoding for interchange with systems using EDTF. Optional but recommended for interoperability with library and archival systems. Example: '1453-05-29/1453-05-29' or '1450~/1453~' for approximate dates.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: string

email^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_email

Contact email address for the contributor. Useful for collaboration and correspondence about contributed data.

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: string

end earliest^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#end_earliest

The earliest possible end date for this timespan. Together with end_latest, defines the uncertainty range for when the interval ended. May be null for unknown or deliberately open-end intervals.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: Literal

end latest^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#end_latest

The latest possible end date for this timespan. For certain dates, this equals end_earliest. For uncertain dates, defines the end of the uncertainty range for when the interval ended.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: Literal

end precision^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#end_precision

Temporal granularity of the end bound. Values: 'year', 'decade', 'century', 'era', 'geological_period'.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: string

fuzziness^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#fuzziness

Ontological fuzziness: a measure of how inherently vague or indeterminate the facet's referent is, from 0.0 (crisp, sharply bounded) to 1.0 (maximally vague). Distinct from certainty: fuzziness is a property of the thing itself, not of our knowledge of it. A regional boundary that was never precisely defined has high fuzziness regardless of how much evidence we have.

has range: float

fuzziness note^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#fuzziness_note

Free-text explanation of the nature of ontological fuzziness (e.g. 'regional boundary was never formally demarcated', 'name used inconsistently across contemporary sources', 'transition was gradual rather than a discrete event').

has range: string

generated at^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#generated_at

has domain: Candidate ^c
has range: date Time

geometry GeoJSON^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#geo_json

GeoJSON representation of the geometry. Used for web mapping applications and LPF export. Should be a valid GeoJSON geometry object (not a Feature or FeatureCollection).

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: string

geometry WKT^op back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#geo_wkt

has super-properties: as W K T ^dp
is also defined as: object property

identifier^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#entity_identifier

An identifier for this SpatialEntity other than its IRI: the contributing project's own record id ('GLOB_366') or an authority's ('geonames:2654675'), with plato:namespace saying whose. A finding aid, like a label: not a claim about the place.

has domain: Spatial Entity ^c
has range: string

identity basis^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_basis

Free-text explanation of the evidence or reasoning supporting this identity assertion (e.g. 'coordinates within 500m and name forms are cognate', 'identified by contributor during reconciliation review', 'confirmed via TGN cross-reference').

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: string

identity certainty^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_certainty

Confidence in the identity assertion, from 0.0 to 1.0. This is the epistemic certainty of the asserter, distinct from identity_type which describes the semantic nature of the relationship. A closeMatch can have high certainty ('I'm confident these are close but not exact') and an exactMatch can have low certainty ('I think they're identical but I'm not sure').

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: float

identity type^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#identity_type

The semantic strength of the identity assertion: 'exactMatch' — the two SpatialEntities are unambiguously the same entity. 'closeMatch' — the two SpatialEntities are believed to be the same entity but with some residual ambiguity (e.g. differing granularity, overlapping but not identical scope). 'related' — the two SpatialEntities are closely associated but may not be strictly identical (e.g. a settlement and its administrative district, or successive phases of a site that might or might not constitute continuity). 'unspecified' — the source links the two but does not say how strongly; honest where the alternative is to guess a strength.

has domain: Identity Relation ^c
has range: string

inverse label^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#inverse_label

Inverse label (e.g. 'has_capital').

has domain: Relation Type ^c
has range: string

IPA^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#ipa

International Phonetic Alphabet representation of the name's pronunciation. Enables phonetic search and comparison across scripts and languages.

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

language^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#language

BCP 47 language tag for this name (e.g., 'ar' for Arabic, 'zh-Hans' for Simplified Chinese). Recommended: use ISO 639-3 three-letter codes within BCP 47 for better granularity (e.g., 'ara', 'cmn').

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

licence^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#licence

Deprecated: use dcterms:license. It could be given only to a Dataset, it had no route in PLATO JSON, and it was a literal where a Gazetteer's dcterms:license points at the licence itself. So the licence of a cited source had no way into the data. dcterms:license has no domain, so it serves every Authority and the Gazetteer alike, and says nothing about what kind of thing is licensed. Kept for one release under the deprecation policy.

Is deprecated: true

has domain: Dataset ^c
has range: any U R I

locator^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#locator

Where in the cited work the evidence sits: 'p. 412', 'f. 12v', 'Table VI, col. 3, row 88', 's.v. Athlone', 'no. xix'. An uninterpreted string, deliberately: sources locate themselves inconsistently, and normalising the value would destroy exactly the information it is there to carry. The same position and shape as PeriodO's source locator. A property of this citation, not of the source: one Source for a printed gazetteer, a different locator on each attestation drawn from it. Not to be confused with the spatial sense of 'locator' in the plato:geometry_role comment, a proxy point standing in for an entity.

has domain: Citation ^c
has range: string

modified^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#modified

Timestamp when this attestation was last modified, while its Gazetteer is still a draft. Once the Gazetteer is published its attestations are append-only (see plato:Gazetteer): a published attestation is not modified, and a change is a new attestation with a meta-attestation, so that the state at any earlier moment can be recomputed and every citation of it reproduces.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: date Time

name embedding^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#name_embedding

Vector embedding for phonetic similarity search. Typically a 256-dimensional vector generated from the name's phonetic form, enabling fuzzy matching and transliteration-variant detection. Format is implementation-specific but should be documented in gazetteer metadata. WHG v4 uses Symphonym embeddings.

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

name type^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#name_type

What the name denotes. The list is open: 'toponym' (place name), 'chrononym' (period or era name), 'ethnonym' (people or ethnic group), 'demonym' (inhabitants), 'odonym' (street or road name) and 'hydronym' (water body) are the starter values, and a project may add others ('oronym', 'hagionym') provided it documents them in its gazetteer metadata. Multiple types are possible (a name that functions as both toponym and ethnonym). plato.schema.json carries the same open list; earlier releases closed it there, and the two serialisations now agree. This classifies the referent, not the status of the form. Whether a string is an attested spelling, an editorial headword or a derived search form is a property of the attestation (plato:form_status), because the same string can have a different status in different attestations.

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

namespace^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#namespace

Whose identifier plato:entity_identifier is (e.g. 'geonames', 'wikidata', 'tgn', 'osm', 'pleiades', 'whg', or the contributing project's own short name). Authority-sourced SpatialEntities carry their origin namespace; contributed SpatialEntities that cannot be linked to any authority receive the 'whg' namespace.

has domain: Spatial Entity ^c
has range: string

negated^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#negated

True when the source states that what this attestation bundles is not so: that a place had no market, that a name was not used, that a grant was refused. The attestation is still about a real SpatialEntity (the town that had no market), with the facet the source denies (a Type 'market'); nothing that never existed need be invented. A denial is a statement a source makes, often a certain one, so it is neither low certainty nor a meta-attestation, which needs a claim to contradict. The 1886 return of market rights answered for every borough and district in England and Wales, and 1,000 of its 1,813 rows are denials. A consumer that does not implement this property will read a denial as an assertion, the opposite of what the source says. So it must be honoured: a tool that cannot express a denial in its target format must leave the attestation out and report it, never write it as an assertion. Bundle one denied facet per attestation, so that what is denied is never in doubt. Absent or false, the attestation asserts.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: boolean

notes^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#notes

Free-text notes providing additional context about this attestation. Can include transcriptions, translations, editorial comments, or other information that doesn't fit structured fields.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: string

occurrence count^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#occurrence_count

The number of times the attested form occurs in the cited source or passage: the '(3 X)' of a place-name survey. A count of occurrences of the form in this source, not of independent sources. It belongs to the attestation, not to the Name, which may occur elsewhere.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: non Negative Integer

open end^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#open_end

Boolean flag indicating that the end of this interval is deliberately unspecified (not merely unknown). True for ongoing periods like 'Modern era (1800-present)' or situations where the end does not exist. Aligns with PeriodO's OpenEndInterval.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: boolean

open start^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#open_start

Boolean flag indicating that the start of this interval is deliberately unspecified (not merely unknown). True for intervals like 'everything before 1453' or 'prehistory until...'. Distinct from null start_earliest, which indicates unknown start. Aligns with PeriodO's OpenBeginningInterval.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: boolean

ORCID^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#contributor_orcid

ORCID identifier for person contributors. Can be provided in two formats: 1. Compact format: 0000-0000-0000-0000 (sixteen digits in groups of four) 2. URI format: https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000 (preferred) The URI format (https://orcid.org/...) is preferred and required for proper linked data representation. ORCID is particular about always including the https:// protocol and domain prefix. While optional in the general ontology, specific implementations (e.g., WHG) may require ORCID for person contributors to ensure proper attribution and citation. ORCID provides persistent identification for researchers, enabling proper credit and reducing name ambiguity.

has domain: Contributor ^c
has range: string

period label^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#period_label

Human-readable label for this period (e.g., 'Byzantine period', 'Han Dynasty', 'Early Bronze Age'). Distinct from authority_title, which may be more formal.

has domain: Period ^c
has range: string

PeriodO URI^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#period_periodo_uri

Link to a PeriodO period definition for this Period authority. When present, indicates this Period aligns with a standardized PeriodO definition. The PeriodO record provides authoritative temporal bounds, spatial extent, and cultural context. Example: 'https://n2t.net/ark:/99152/p06v8w4rb38'

has domain: Period ^c
has range: any U R I

PeriodO URI^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#periodo_uri

Link to a PeriodO period definition (https://perio.do/). When a timespan corresponds to a standardized period in PeriodO, this property enables alignment and allows PLATO to inherit PeriodO's temporal bounds, spatial coverage, and cultural context. Example: 'https://n2t.net/ark:/99152/p06v8w4rb38'

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: any U R I

precision in kilometers^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#precision_km

Uncertainty radius in kilometers. For point geometries, indicates how far the true location might be from the stated coordinates. For polygons, indicates boundary uncertainty. Can be multiple values for heterogeneous geometries.

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: float

precision value^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#precision_value

Numeric precision indicator in years. For example, a decade-level precision would have value 10, century-level would be 100. Enables computational comparison of precision across timespans.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: integer

property label^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#property_label

Human-readable label for the property (e.g. 'population').

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: string

property type^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#property_type

URI of the property in an external vocabulary — a Wikidata property, a CIDOC-CRM property, or a project vocabulary term (e.g. <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P1082> for population). Keeping the vocabulary external rather than enumerating attributes in this ontology is what allows the model to carry attributes it has never heard of.

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: any U R I

publisher^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#publisher

has domain: Dataset ^c
has range: string

range constraint^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relation_range

Valid object type for this relation.

has domain: Relation Type ^c
has range: string

relation label^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#relation_label

Forward label for the relationship (e.g. 'capital_of').

has domain: Relation Type ^c
has range: string

romanized^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#romanized

Romanized (Latin-script) form of the name for searchability and display in contexts requiring ASCII. Should specify transliteration system used via plato:transliteration_system.

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

script^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#script

ISO 15924 script code (e.g., 'Arab' for Arabic script, 'Latn' for Latin script, 'Hant' for Traditional Han characters). Important for names that may appear in multiple scripts.

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

sequence^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#sequence

Ordering index for attestations in routes or itineraries. Defines the position of this attestation in an ordered sequence. Used when the SpatialEntity being attested (via attests_about) is a Route or Itinerary. Lower numbers come first in the sequence.

has domain: Attestation ^c
has range: integer

similarity score^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#similarity_score

has domain: Candidate ^c
has range: float

source CRS^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#source_crs

Original coordinate reference system. Typically 'EPSG:4326' (WGS84), but may reference historical or custom CRS identifiers for historical maps. Enables proper interpretation of coordinate values.

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: string

source label^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#source_label

The original label as given in the contributing source, before vocabulary mapping. For a structured PropertyValue this preserves the unparsed original — 'Monday after Whitsun, 3 days' — which is what a future reader will want to check against the document. On a Name it is the form as printed where the toponym has been normalised; on a Geometry, the coordinates as printed ('03-47S/13038E', '??'); on a Timespan, the date as written ('about 1841'). On an Attestation it is the source's own wording of the relation the attestation asserts ('part of Berkshire', 'within Buckingham'), before that relation is mapped to a RelationType; an attestation asserts at most one relation, so the wording is never ambiguous. Like the qualification properties it has no rdfs:domain, so it applies to any facet node or attestation.

has range: string

spatial coverage^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#spatial_coverage

Geographic or cultural region to which this period applies. Free text or URI to a place/region. Useful because periods like 'Medieval' have different temporal bounds in different regions.

has domain: Period ^c
has range: string

spatial precision^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#spatial_precision

Precision qualifier for this geometry: 'exact' (surveyed or GPS), 'approximate' (estimated from maps or descriptions), 'uncertain' (multiple possible locations), 'historical_approximate' (based on historical sources with inherent imprecision). Multiple values possible for heterogeneous geometries.

has domain: Geometry ^c
has range: string

start earliest^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#start_earliest

The earliest possible start date for this timespan. Together with start_latest, defines the uncertainty range for when the interval began. Use ISO 8601 format (e.g., '1453-05-29') or a year of at least four digits ('0921', '-12000') for year-level precision; deep-time years have as many digits as they need, as in xsd:gYear. May be null for unknown or deliberately open-beginning intervals. The range is rdfs:Literal rather than a single datatype, because one property carries values of three shapes. A plain string is conformant; a producer that can type by shape should emit xsd:gYear for a year, xsd:date for a day and xsd:dateTime otherwise, so that a store can index and compare the bounds. The same applies to start_latest, end_earliest and end_latest.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: Literal

start latest^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#start_latest

The latest possible start date for this timespan. For certain dates, this equals start_earliest. For uncertain dates, defines the end of the uncertainty range for when the interval began.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: Literal

start precision^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#start_precision

Temporal granularity of the start bound. Values: 'year', 'decade', 'century', 'era', 'geological_period'. This describes the resolution of the date specification, distinct from certainty (which describes the confidence in that specification).

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: string

status^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#candidate_status

Review status: 'suggested', 'confirmed', 'rejected'.

has domain: Candidate ^c
has range: string

status^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#gazetteer_status

Publication status: 'draft' or 'published'. From 'published' on, the Gazetteer's attestations are append-only (see plato:Gazetteer).

has domain: Gazetteer ^c
has range: string

structured value^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#value_json

A structured value serialised as JSON, whose shape is declared by plato:value_type. Use plato:value_literal instead for scalar values.

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: string

timespan label^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#timespan_label

Human-readable label for this timespan (e.g., 'Byzantine period', 'Early Bronze Age', 'Ming Dynasty'). Particularly useful for named periods referenced across multiple attestations. The date exactly as a source writes it ('c. 925', 'a. 1300') is plato:source_label.

has domain: Timespan ^c
has range: string

title^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#authority_title

has domain: Authority ^c
has range: string

toponym^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#toponym

The name string itself in its original script. This is the primary property of a Name entity. Required for all Name instances.

has characteristics: functional

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

transliteration system^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#transliteration_system

The transliteration/romanization system used (e.g., 'Pinyin' for Chinese, 'BGN/PCGN' for Arabic, 'ISO 259' for Hebrew, 'Hepburn' for Japanese). Enables proper interpretation and comparison of romanized forms.

has domain: Name ^c
has range: string

type identifier^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#type_identifier

URI or identifier in a controlled vocabulary (e.g. AAT).

has domain: Type ^c
has range: any U R I

type label^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#type_label

Human-readable label for this type.

has domain: Type ^c
has range: string

value^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#value_literal

The value, where it is a literal: a number, a string, a date. Use plato:value_json instead where the value is structured.

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: Literal

value datatype^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#value_datatype

Datatype of the literal value (e.g. xsd:integer, xsd:decimal, xsd:string).

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: any U R I

value type^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#value_type

URI declaring the shape of a structured value, so that a consumer can tell whether it understands the value before attempting to read it. Omitted for literal values. Not every attribute a source states is scalar. A market's trading day — 'the Monday after Whitsun, for three days' — is a recurrence rule anchored to a moveable feast, and flattening it to a string would reproduce the loss this class exists to prevent. The ontology stays agnostic about such shapes: it records which shape is in use and leaves the definition to the vocabulary that owns it.

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: any U R I

value unit^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#value_unit

URI of the unit of measurement, where the value has one — a QUDT unit or a Wikidata unit item. Omitted for counts and dimensionless values.

has domain: Property Value ^c
has range: any U R I

version^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#authority_version

Version identifier for tracking upstream authority updates.

has domain: Authority ^c
has range: string

Named Individuals

0000 0003 3060 0181ⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3060-0181

belongs to: Person ^c
has facts: account ^ap docuracy ^ep; mbox ^ap mailto:stephen.gadd@pitt.edu ^ep; name ^ap "Stephen Gadd"

accurateⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionAccurate

The transcription renders what the source shows.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The transcription renders what the source shows."@en; in Scheme ^ap transcription accuracy ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "accurate"@en

alternative toⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#AlternativeTo

This attestation and the target are alternative readings of the same evidence: at most one of them is right. Each keeps its own certainty. Link every alternative in a set to the same first one. A set of alternatives is one piece of evidence, not several, so it must be counted once.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "This attestation and the target are alternative readings of the same evidence: at most one of them is right. Each keeps its own certainty. Link every alternative in a set to the same first one. A set of alternatives is one piece of evidence, not several, so it must be counted once."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "alternative to"@en

annotatesⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Annotates

Adds a remark about the target attestation, with its own source, without supporting, contradicting or refining it. The remark is the meta-attestation's notes.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Adds a remark about the target attestation, with its own source, without supporting, contradicting or refining it. The remark is the meta-attestation's notes."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "annotates"@en

assertedⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#StanceAsserted

The source states it as so, on its own account. The default source stance, usually omitted.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The source states it as so, on its own account. The default source stance, usually omitted."@en; in Scheme ^ap source stance ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "asserted"@en

attestedⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Attested

A form read in the cited source. The default form status, usually omitted.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "A form read in the cited source. The default form status, usually omitted."@en; in Scheme ^ap form status ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "attested"@en

attribution inferredⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#AttributionInferred

The source was given as ibidem or idem and resolved by an editor, so the attribution is inferred rather than stated.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The source was given as ibidem or idem and resolved by an editor, so the attribution is inferred rather than stated."@en; in Scheme ^ap attribution status ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "attribution inferred"@en

attribution statedⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#AttributionStated

The source is named where the form occurs. The default attribution status, usually omitted.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The source is named where the form occurs. The default attribution status, usually omitted."@en; in Scheme ^ap attribution status ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "attribution stated"@en

attribution statusⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#AttributionStatusScheme

Starter concepts for plato:attribution_status. Whether the attribution of evidence to a cited source was stated or resolved editorially.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

betweenⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#BetweenXAndY

Between the anchor and a second anchor.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Between the anchor and a second anchor."@en; in Scheme ^ap relative qualifier ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "between"@en

beyondⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Beyond

On the far side of the anchor from the point of view of the source.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "On the far side of the anchor from the point of view of the source."@en; in Scheme ^ap relative qualifier ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "beyond"@en

bundlesⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Bundles

Groups the target with other related attestations.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Groups the target with other related attestations."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "bundles"@en

Certainⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Certain

The statement is certain: the source, or the contributor, has no doubt of it.

belongs to: Certainty Level ^c
has facts: title ^dp "certain"@en

challengesⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Challenges

Questions the validity of the target attestation.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Questions the validity of the target attestation."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "challenges"@en

completeⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionComplete

Nothing of the value is lost.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Nothing of the value is lost."@en; in Scheme ^ap transcription completeness ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "complete"@en

Contained Inⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#ContainedIn

The subject SpatialEntity is contained in the target SpatialEntity, for the attested timespan: a parish in a hundred, a hundred in a county. Not an identity relation and not fixed by the class model; it is a claim, with a source and a certainty, like any other attestation.

belongs to: Relation Type ^c
has facts: title ^dp "contained in"@en; authority URI ^dp http://vocab.getty.edu/ontology#broaderPartitive; inverse label ^dp "contains"; domain constraint ^dp "SpatialEntity"; relation label ^dp "contained_in"; range constraint ^dp "SpatialEntity"

contradictsⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Contradicts

Asserts that the target attestation is incorrect.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Asserts that the target attestation is incorrect."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "contradicts"@en

derived fromⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#DerivedFrom

This attestation's value was derived from the target attestation's, as a normalised search form is derived from an attested spelling.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "This attestation's value was derived from the target attestation's, as a normalised search form is derived from an attested spelling."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "derived from"@en

directⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Direct

The form refers to the SpatialEntity directly. The default occurrence context, usually omitted.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The form refers to the SpatialEntity directly. The default occurrence context, usually omitted."@en; in Scheme ^ap occurrence context ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "direct"@en

doubtedⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#StanceDoubted

The source raises it and declines to settle it. Not a denial, which is plato:negated.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The source raises it and declines to settle it. Not a denial, which is plato:negated."@en; in Scheme ^ap source stance ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "doubted"@en

during reign ofⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#DuringReignOf

A timespan defined by the reign or tenure of the anchor.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "A timespan defined by the reign or tenure of the anchor."@en; in Scheme ^ap relative qualifier ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "during reign of"@en

extentⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Extent

The built or bounded extent of the SpatialEntity.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The built or bounded extent of the SpatialEntity."@en; in Scheme ^ap geometry role ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "extent"@en

falseⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionFalse

The transcribed form is not in the source at all: a ghost form, kept because it circulates and must be recognisable.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The transcribed form is not in the source at all: a ghost form, kept because it circulates and must be recognisable."@en; in Scheme ^ap transcription accuracy ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "false"@en

feature pointⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#FeaturePoint

The location of a specific central feature of the SpatialEntity, such as a market place or a church.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The location of a specific central feature of the SpatialEntity, such as a market place or a church."@en; in Scheme ^ap geometry role ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "feature point"@en

form statusⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#FormStatusScheme

Starter concepts for plato:form_status. The status of the name form an attestation contributes.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

geometry roleⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#GeometryRoleScheme

Starter concepts for plato:geometry_role. What a geometry depicts, as distinct from how precisely it is known.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

headwordⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Headword

The editorial or preferred form under which the cited authority files the entry. A scholarly decision rather than a reading.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The editorial or preferred form under which the cited authority files the entry. A scholarly decision rather than a reading."@en; in Scheme ^ap form status ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "headword"@en

in field nameⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#InFieldName

The form survives only as an element of a later minor name, such as a field name.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The form survives only as an element of a later minor name, such as a field name."@en; in Scheme ^ap occurrence context ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "in field name"@en

in personal nameⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#InPersonalName

The form occurs only as an element of a personal name, a surname or by-name; the (p) of the place-name surveys.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The form occurs only as an element of a personal name, a surname or by-name; the (p) of the place-name surveys."@en; in Scheme ^ap occurrence context ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "in personal name"@en

inaccurateⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionInaccurate

The transcription departs from what the source shows, by misreading or error, but is a reading of something the source contains.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The transcription departs from what the source shows, by misreading or error, but is a reading of something the source contains."@en; in Scheme ^ap transcription accuracy ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "inaccurate"@en

itineraryⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Itinerary

A line tracing a route or journey.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "A line tracing a route or journey."@en; in Scheme ^ap geometry role ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "itinerary"@en

label anchorⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#LabelAnchor

The anchor point of a map label.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The anchor point of a map label."@en; in Scheme ^ap geometry role ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "label anchor"@en

Less Certainⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#LessCertain

The statement is probable but not certain.

belongs to: Certainty Level ^c
has facts: title ^dp "less certain"@en

meta-attestation typeⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#MetaTypeScheme

Starter concepts for plato:has_meta_type. The nature of a meta-attestation's relationship to its target attestation.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

nearⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Near

Close to the anchor, without a stated bearing or distance.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Close to the anchor, without a stated bearing or distance."@en; in Scheme ^ap relative qualifier ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "near"@en

normalisedⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Normalised

A form derived from an attested one for matching or search, attested by no source and carrying no independent evidential value.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "A form derived from an attested one for matching or search, attested by no source and carrying no independent evidential value."@en; in Scheme ^ap form status ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "normalised"@en

not reconstructableⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionNonReconstructable

Part of the value is lost and cannot be supplied.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Part of the value is lost and cannot be supplied."@en; in Scheme ^ap transcription completeness ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "not reconstructable"@en

occurrence contextⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#OccurrenceContextScheme

Starter concepts for plato:occurrence_context. The capacity in which an attested form occurs in its source.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

preferredⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Preferred

The form the contributing project prefers for display and search: a project decision, so the cited source may show a different form.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The form the contributing project prefers for display and search: a project decision, so the cited source may show a different form."@en; in Scheme ^ap form status ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "preferred"@en

reconstructableⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionReconstructable

Part of the value is lost, damaged or abbreviated, but can be supplied with confidence.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Part of the value is lost, damaged or abbreviated, but can be supplied with confidence."@en; in Scheme ^ap transcription completeness ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "reconstructable"@en

reconstructedⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Reconstructed

A form inferred but not attested; the philologists' asterisked form.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "A form inferred but not attested; the philologists' asterisked form."@en; in Scheme ^ap form status ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "reconstructed"@en

refinesⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Refines

Provides more precise information than the target attestation.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Provides more precise information than the target attestation."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "refines"@en

relative qualifierⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#RelativeQualifierScheme

Starter concepts for plato:relative_qualifier. How a facet is defined relative to its anchor when bearing and distance are not applicable or not sufficient.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

reportedⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#StanceReported

The source passes it on without vouching for it: 'it is said', 'as Cambden noteth'.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The source passes it on without vouching for it: 'it is said', 'as Cambden noteth'."@en; in Scheme ^ap source stance ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "reported"@en

representative pointⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#RepresentativePoint

A proxy point standing in for the whole SpatialEntity, for indexing and display; it need not depict any feature of it.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "A proxy point standing in for the whole SpatialEntity, for indexing and display; it need not depict any feature of it."@en; in Scheme ^ap geometry role ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "representative point"@en

retractsⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Retracts

The target attestation is withdrawn: it no longer holds, and is kept only so that earlier states of the gazetteer can be reproduced. For a claim its maker takes back, such as a bad import, where plato:Contradicts would read as one scholar disputing another. A tool showing the current state leaves a retracted attestation out. A retraction is itself an attestation: retracting it withdraws the withdrawal, and the target holds again.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The target attestation is withdrawn: it no longer holds, and is kept only so that earlier states of the gazetteer can be reproduced. For a claim its maker takes back, such as a bad import, where plato:Contradicts would read as one scholar disputing another. A tool showing the current state leaves a retracted attestation out. A retraction is itself an attestation: retracting it withdraws the withdrawal, and the target holds again."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "retracts"@en

source stanceⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#SourceStanceScheme

Starter concepts for plato:source_stance. How firmly the source itself asserts what an attestation records, as distinct from anyone's confidence in it.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

supersedesⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Supersedes

Replaces the target attestation with newer information.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Replaces the target attestation with newer information."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "supersedes"@en

supportsⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Supports

Provides additional evidence for the target attestation.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Provides additional evidence for the target attestation."@en; in Scheme ^ap meta-attestation type ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "supports"@en

tentativeⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#StanceTentative

The source states it, but with a hedge: 'as it seems', 'were (if not are)'.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "The source states it, but with a hedge: 'as it seems', 'were (if not are)'."@en; in Scheme ^ap source stance ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "tentative"@en

transcription accuracyⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionAccuracyScheme

Starter concepts for plato:transcription_accuracy. How faithfully a transcribed value renders what the source shows.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

transcription completenessⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#TranscriptionCompletenessScheme

Starter concepts for plato:transcription_completeness. Whether a transcribed value is whole, and if not, whether the lost part can be supplied.

belongs to: Concept Scheme ^c

Uncertainⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Uncertain

The statement is doubtful: possible, but not established.

belongs to: Certainty Level ^c
has facts: title ^dp "uncertain"@en

upstream ofⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#UpstreamOf

Upstream of the anchor along a watercourse.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Upstream of the anchor along a watercourse."@en; in Scheme ^ap relative qualifier ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "upstream of"@en

variant ofⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#VariantOf

A name defined as a variant of the anchor name.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "A name defined as a variant of the anchor name."@en; in Scheme ^ap relative qualifier ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "variant of"@en

withinⁿⁱ back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/plato#Within

Inside the anchor.

belongs to: Concept ^c
has facts: definition ^ap "Inside the anchor."@en; in Scheme ^ap relative qualifier ⁿⁱ; pref Label ^ap "within"@en

Legend back to ToC

^c: Classes
^op: Object Properties
^dp: Data Properties
ⁿⁱ: Named Individuals
^ep: External Properties

Acknowledgments back to ToC

The authors would like to thank Silvio Peroni for developing LODE, a Live OWL Documentation Environment, which is used for representing the Cross Referencing Section of this document and Daniel Garijo for developing Widoco, the program used to create the template used in this documentation.

PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology

Release: 2026-02-16

PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology: Overview back to ToC

Classes

Object Properties

Data Properties

Named Individuals

PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology: Description back to ToC

Cross-reference for PLATO — Place Attestation Ontology classes, object properties and data properties back to ToC

Classes

Attestationc back to ToC or Class ToC

Authorityc back to ToC or Class ToC

Candidatec back to ToC or Class ToC

Certainty Levelc back to ToC or Class ToC

Citationc back to ToC or Class ToC

Contributorc back to ToC or Class ToC

Datasetc back to ToC or Class ToC

Gazetteerc back to ToC or Class ToC

Gazetteer Groupc back to ToC or Class ToC

Geometryc back to ToC or Class ToC

Identity Relationc back to ToC or Class ToC

Namec back to ToC or Class ToC

Organizationc back to ToC or Class ToC

Periodc back to ToC or Class ToC

Property Valuec back to ToC or Class ToC

Relation Typec back to ToC or Class ToC

Sourcec back to ToC or Class ToC

Spatial Entityc back to ToC or Class ToC

Timespanc back to ToC or Class ToC

Typec back to ToC or Class ToC

Object Properties

affiliationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

asserted byop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests aboutop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests geometryop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests nameop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests propertyop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests timespanop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests typeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attribution statusop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

candidate entityop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

certainty levelop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

citation functionop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

citesop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contains attestationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contains entityop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contains identity relationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contributed byop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

convex hullop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

derived fromop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

form statusop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

geometry roleop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

geometry WKTop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

has citationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

has relation typeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

has timespanop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

identity objectop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

identity sourced byop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

identity subjectop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

member of groupop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

meta-attestation aboutop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

meta-attestation typeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

occurrence contextop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

ownerop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

part ofop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

promoted fromop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

relates toop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

relative qualifierop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

relative toop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

representative pointop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

source entityop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

source stanceop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

source timespanop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

sourced byop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

transcription accuracyop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

transcription completenessop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

universeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

Data Properties

affiliation (string)dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

algorithm versiondp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

Attestation^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Authority^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Candidate^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Certainty Level^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Citation^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Contributor^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Dataset^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Gazetteer^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Gazetteer Group^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Geometry^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Identity Relation^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Name^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Organization^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Period^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Property Value^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Relation Type^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Source^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Spatial Entity^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Timespan^c back to ToC or Class ToC

Type^c back to ToC or Class ToC

affiliation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

asserted by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests about^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests geometry^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests name^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests property^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests timespan^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attests type^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

attribution status^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

candidate entity^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

certainty level^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

citation function^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

cites^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contains attestation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contains entity^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contains identity relation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

contributed by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

convex hull^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

derived from^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

form status^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

geometry role^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

geometry WKT^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

has citation^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

has relation type^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

has timespan^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

identity object^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

identity sourced by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

identity subject^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

member of group^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

meta-attestation about^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

meta-attestation type^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

occurrence context^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

owner^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

part of^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

promoted from^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

relates to^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

relative qualifier^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

relative to^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

representative point^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

source entity^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

source stance^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

source timespan^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

sourced by^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

transcription accuracy^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

transcription completeness^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

universe^op back to ToC or Object Property ToC

affiliation (string)^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

algorithm version^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

asserted at^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

authority URI^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

bearing^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

bibliographic string^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

bounding box^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

certainty^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

certainty note^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

connection metadata^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

contributor identifier^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

contributor name^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

contributor role^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

contributor URL^dp back to ToC or Data Property ToC