Purpose
This route helps readers understand what counts as evidence. It moves through surviving texts, chroniclers, material objects, maps, translations, and source records before asking readers to make claims.
How to Read This List
Read the method articles before the source records. When you open a source, ask four questions: who made it, when, for whom, and what kind of evidence it can actually provide.
That sequence is deliberate. Many readers want to jump straight to the dramatic quote, famous chronicler, or impressive artifact. But source literacy works the other way around. You learn the categories first, then test the source. Otherwise the authority of age, rarity, or visual appeal will do too much of the thinking for you.
Source-Literacy Habit
Do not treat a translated source, a modern scholarly book, a museum caption, and a viral quote as the same kind of authority. Each can help, but each must be used differently.
Another good habit is to separate survival from representativeness. A source survives because of material chance, copying, patronage, preservation, or later selection. That does not mean it speaks for everyone. This route is meant to make readers more skeptical in a useful way, not more cynical about whether history is possible at all.
Editorial Goal
The goal is to make source use visible. Readers should leave knowing why evidence survives unevenly, why translations matter, and why source records are not optional decoration.
Next Route
After this source-literacy path, move into Myths vs Evidence to apply the method, or choose a specialist route such as Science, Philosophy, and Education where source records are already central.
