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Point Rules

This page explains why a record is allowed to appear as a point on the public map.

The most important atlas question is often the simplest one: "why is this point allowed to exist?" The answer should never be "because the map generator put it there." The answer has to come from stable evidence rules.

What Must Be True Before A Point Publishes

  • the sample identity must be stable enough to carry forward
  • the locality claim must be strong enough for coordinate work
  • the chronology posture must not be hidden by a prettier label
  • the coordinate provenance must still describe how the point was derived

Those rules keep the visible map tied to reviewable evidence rather than to the desire to fill a geography with more points.

What A Published Point Means

  • the repository decided the record can be shown under explicit conditions
  • the point cleared a chain of identity, locality, chronology, and coordinate checks
  • the public product can point back to the narrower evidence if the claim is challenged

What A Published Point Does Not Mean

  • that every visible point is equally strong
  • that the coordinate is always direct from one source table
  • that the map view is the best place to judge chronology or provenance
  • that an attractive point is safe to over-interpret

What Questions These Rules Help Answer

  • why one record becomes a visible point while another remains blocked
  • why some points are shown with stronger locality confidence than others
  • whether a point is sample-backed, projected, broad-area, or still too weak for precise display
  • which parts of the point are inferred from a chain of evidence rather than copied directly from one source table

How To Use This Page

Use this page together with:

  • maps if the question begins with a visible point on the atlas
  • filters and popups if the question is how that point behaves once scope or family filters change
  • limits if the point seems to carry more confidence than the underlying evidence deserves
  • sample records, localities, and coordinates if the challenge is about the evidence itself rather than the map behavior

Why These Rules Matter Publicly

  • they stop map completeness from becoming more important than evidence quality
  • they keep the atlas answer tied to the narrower record
  • they make absence meaningful when the repository refuses to publish a weak point

What This Page Protects Against

  • publishing region-only claims as exact points
  • letting map convenience overrule weaker geography
  • showing visible points whose evidence chain cannot be reconstructed

What These Rules Do Not Promise

Point rules do not mean every visible point is equally strong. They only mean that the repository has decided the point can be shown under explicit conditions.

That still leaves important differences between points:

  • some have direct coordinate-grade evidence
  • some are reconstructed from narrower locality work
  • some remain visible only because the current scope allows a broader framing
  • some are still missing because the repository refuses to promote weak rows

The honest public product depends on keeping those differences visible instead of flattening them into one visual style.