Sources & Methodology
How we research, date, and source the timeline and articles on Trade Triad.
What we prioritize
Trade Triad draws on publicly available work from museums, universities, national archives, and recognized historical reference projects. Where a specific claim is attributed to an institution on an event or article page, that institution is named directly; we do not attribute content to invented authors, fabricated publications, or fictional historians.
Categories of sources we reference
- National and encyclopedic museums (for example, the British Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- International and heritage bodies (for example, UNESCO's World Heritage and Silk Roads programs)
- National archives and libraries (for example, the Library of Congress and The National Archives)
- University history, archaeology, and area-studies departments
- General historical reference projects such as World History Encyclopedia
How we handle uncertain dates
Many events in pre-modern history are known only approximately, and historians often disagree on exact years or even centuries. Rather than presenting a single invented date as fact, we use qualifiers such as "c." (circa), decade or century ranges, and phrases like "historians estimate" wherever the underlying scholarship is unsettled. Where a date is well documented — such as a treaty signed in a known year — we present it plainly.
How we handle difficult history
Trade routes connected societies, but that history includes forced labor, slavery, conquest, disease, and environmental harm alongside the movement of goods and ideas. We aim to describe these episodes factually and soberly, centering the people affected rather than romanticizing exploration or commerce, and without reducing complex, multi-society developments to the actions of a single explorer, ruler, or nation.
Corrections
If you believe something on this site is inaccurate, please see our Corrections Policy and contact us. We review and, where warranted, update the relevant page.
Images
Photographs and historical images used on Trade Triad are selected for verified public-domain or equivalent open status, with source and attribution listed on our Image Credits page. Decorative maps, route lines, and icons used across the site are original illustrations created for Trade Triad, not reproductions of any copyrighted map.
Editorial independence
Trade Triad does not offer investment advice, financial products, or trading recommendations of any kind. This site is strictly an editorial and educational resource about the history of trade. See our Editorial Policy and Disclaimer for more detail.