Key to the map

Meaning never rests on colour alone. Vault is carried by shape and colour, evidence tier by the fill pattern, and location precision by the halo, region outline or padlock.

Vaults

MarkerVaultWhat it holds
Palaeo vaultDeep-time life. Fossil specimens, trace fossils and reconstructions of extinct organisms.
Endangered life vaultRecordings and documentation of threatened species, their calls and their places.
Edaphic vaultSoil, sediment and root-zone records with depth, from one illustrative pinewood site.
Language vaultEndangered languages, place-names, songs and reconstructed speech.
Intangible skill vaultCrafts, land skills and practices recorded from consenting practitioners.
Iconography vaultCarvings, motifs and images that carry ecological and cultural memory.

Evidence tiers

FillTierMeaning
T1 RecordedA direct record of the thing itself, such as a recording, specimen, photograph or transcript.
T2 DocumentedA secondary record, such as a catalogue entry, description or transcription made by another party.
T3 InferredAn inference from evidence with a stated method and a confidence statement.
T4 ReconstructedA reconstruction built from cited inputs by a stated method. Not a recording of the past.
T5 SpeculativeA creative or speculative rendering, labelled so that it is never mistaken for evidence.

Tiers T3 to T5 are hidden until the tier switch is on. Their markers use hatched, dotted or outline fills and a lower opacity.

Location precision and sensitivity

Vault (shape and colour)
  • Palaeo vault
  • Endangered life vault
  • Edaphic vault
  • Language vault
  • Intangible skill vault
  • Iconography vault
Evidence tier (fill)
  • T1 Recorded
  • T2 Documented
  • T3 Inferred
  • T4 Reconstructed
  • T5 Speculative
Location precision
  • Exact location
  • Generalised to about 10 km
  • Generalised to about 50 km
  • Region only
  • Location withheld

Connections

Selecting a record draws lines to its linked records. A solid line is a T1 or T2 link; a dashed line is a T3 to T5 link. The line takes the colour of the record it points to.

Time bands