The script must never sound more certain than the evidence allows.

1. Established evidence

Claims directly supported by strong sources. We identify the earliest surviving evidence, its date, purpose, transmission and limitations.

2. Strong historical inference

Conclusions not directly stated in a source but supported by several established facts.

3. Genuine scholarly dispute

Questions where qualified scholars permit more than one serious interpretation. The strongest opposing position is represented rather than caricatured.

4. YTJ interpretation

The project’s own reasoned hypothesis. It is identified as interpretation and tested against contrary evidence.

5. Fictional reconstruction

Imagined dialogue, private motives, internal monologue and sensory detail. Reconstruction may be vivid, but it cannot introduce invented facts disguised as history.

Source order

Primary evidence comes first, followed by current academic scholarship, serious minority scholarship, public scholarship and only then polemic or popular argument. AI output is never treated as a source.