Method

Method

How SAGHRO distinguishes what is known, what is interpreted and what remains unknown.

“Valley of the Ouad Dra. View of Tamnougalt” (Foucauld, 1888) — Bibliothèque nationale de France, via Wikimedia Commons, Domaine public

Wikipedia check — 50 →

1. 1

   Every historical statement points to one or more sources, with the location in the source when known.

2. 2

   For each source we state what we actually consulted: full text, excerpts, abstract, or bibliographic record only. A record is never presented as a reading.

3. 3

   Sources that derive from one another (an encyclopedia summarising a book) are grouped into a single “documentary line”: repetition is not proof.

4. 4

   Figures (numbers of fighters, losses) remain attributed to their source; they are never added up or averaged.

5. 5

   Quotations are reproduced only if checked against the consulted text; otherwise they are flagged as reported, or omitted.

6. 6

   Places are drawn with their real precision: located point, approximate location (circle), or area. No military position is drawn without a source.

7. 7

   Gaps are shown as such: days without information, unknown human toll, undescribed siege conditions.

8. 8

   In the press, newspapers reproducing the same agency dispatch count as a single testimony; what the item relays (official communiqué, another newspaper) is stated.

Status

Confirmed by a verified source × 55

Attested by at least one consulted source, with no known contradiction.

Corroborated by several independent sources × 0

At least two independent documentary lines agree; copies of the same text count once.

A historian's interpretation × 1

A historian's or anthropologist's reading: it explains, it does not record.

Oral tradition / testimony × 0

Transmitted orally; valuable, but not cross-checked against written sources.

Contested information × 7

Sources disagree; the versions are shown side by side.

Unverified information × 19

Single, tertiary or unverified source; not to be taken for granted.

Claim set aside for lack of evidence × 0

No verifiable evidence: the claim stays visible to explain why it is not retained.

Level of consultation

• Full text consulted63
• Excerpts consulted25
• Abstract / detailed record consulted5
• Known through indirect citations19
• Bibliographic record only22
• Identified, not accessible3

Translations

French is the authoring language. The English, Arabic and Spanish versions are assisted translations, marked “not validated” until a translator has reviewed them. Standard Tamazight (Tifinagh) currently covers only part of the interface; long texts are shown in French with a notice. Terms specific to the Aït Atta are given in the forms attested by the ethnographic literature; unattested Tifinagh transcriptions are flagged.

Images

Every image has a record: author, stated date, institution, reference, licence and degree of certainty of attribution. Contemporary photographs are distinguished from historical ones; context illustrations (goumiers of 1913 or 1929) are flagged as such. Images of unreliable provenance are excluded and listed. Since November 2026 every description has been checked by looking at the image itself, and images whose rights are not established are no longer reproduced: their record remains available, with a link to the source. No generated image is used.

Database

Sources, places, people, events, images, documents, terms, dossiers and chapters are stored in validated JSON files (Zod schemas) and checked by automated tests: cross-references, statuses, quotations, licences. Each item has a unique identifier and can appear in several pages without being duplicated.

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