Boundaries¶
Boundary data is not scientific evidence, but it is still essential to the public product. It tells readers what a country filter means, how a regional bundle was framed, and whether a map is speaking about one political geography or another.
Without that clarity, mixed evidence maps quickly become harder to trust. A reader may see a clean shape or a familiar country name without knowing exactly what scope the product is using.
What Boundaries Add¶
Boundary layers are strongest when readers need:
- clear country and regional framing
- stable scope filters in atlas and country outputs
- a public geography layer that makes comparison readable
Their job is interpretive legibility. They help the repository say where it is talking about, not what scientific claim is true there.
What Boundaries Do Not Claim¶
Boundaries do not prove archaeological, pollen, or aDNA claims.
They do not replace:
- source evidence
- sample review
- chronology review
- locality evidence
They are framing infrastructure, not historical proof.
Why A Public Reader Should Still Care¶
Readers often notice framing only when it goes wrong. If country or regional filters are vague, then even strong evidence layers become harder to interpret.
Good boundary documentation is therefore part of scientific honesty. It makes clear that geographic scope is chosen, governed, and visible, rather than quietly assumed.
How It Appears In Public Outputs¶
Boundary layers support world, regional, and country surfaces by giving them a stable geography model. They make scope-filtered outputs understandable and keep map framing distinct from the underlying evidence families.
If You Need The Repository-Owned Records¶
The family-owned normalized outputs live under:
data/boundaries/normalized/
That is the tracked path behind the framing layers used by the public maps and filters.