Sourcing
Entries cite topic-specific sources with working URLs. We aim for at least one primary source when one exists (period reporting, government files, excavation reports, peer-reviewed papers, museum catalogues). Believer or speculative sites are labeled as claims, not as settled fact. Placeholder search pages and bare homepages are not valid citations.
Claims vs mainstream
Where a popular claim and a mainstream or skeptical view disagree, we show both sides in a structured comparison and keep the short answer clear about what is documented versus what is attributed lore.
AI illustrations
When we generate illustrative plates, the page discloses them in HTML as “AI illustration for reference only.” We do not burn that disclosure into image pixels, and we do not present generated art as documentary photography. Real places and physical artifacts prefer licensed or public-domain photos when they identify the subject well.
Sensitive topics
Subjects involving living religious practice, Indigenous sacred traditions, real crimes, war graves, or suicide-adjacent sites require human review before publish. Suicide-adjacent pages may show crisis-support links (988 in the U.S.; IASP internationally). We do not publish methods or sensational body counts.
Corrections
If you find a factual error, dead source link, or missing attribution, email us via thecontact page. We update the entry and the last-reviewed date when the fix lands.