Follow dated notes about sources, objects, archives and the seasonal cycle. This page starts with that question because it is the most useful way into the subject. It names the visible structure, keeps the vocabulary plain and points to the source trail instead of asking the reader to accept an unexplained conclusion.
The useful distinction here is between an archive and a present-tense claim. A route, image or document can be preserved as evidence of a period without being republished as a current schedule or identity. The Feast & Form Index gives this explanation a place among related records: feast, season, office, object or visual cue. That arrangement lets a reader arrive through ordinary language and leave with a more precise term.
The editorial boundary is deliberate. We do not assign a current schedule, repeat private contact details, or turn a local custom into a universal rule. When the evidence is limited, the page says so and offers a nearby source, such as the source register or the method note.
Two notes on method
A field note is only as good as the habit behind it, and two outside guides describe those habits in trades that share our problem.
An independent film production guide sets out how a small crew plans, records and stores material it will never be able to shoot a second time.
A paranormal first-check guide is kept here for the opposite reason: it lists the ordinary checks worth running on an unexplained report before anyone repeats it as fact.
