THE ROSETTA METHOD™
Evidence before inference.
Rosetta begins with a question, follows the documentary connections, tests what the surviving record can support, and keeps uncertainty visible when the evidence does not resolve the issue.
Six steps
Decode → Connect → Compare → Test → Classify → Preserve the Gap
1
Decode
Identify names, code words, abbreviations, dates, organizations, materials, and historical terminology.
2
Connect
Link the record to the people, places, programs, materials, operations, and institutions around it.
3
Compare
Compare independent records and perspectives rather than relying on a single source when stronger confirmation is possible.
4
Test
Ask what the record actually represents, what should have existed, and whether important workers, periods, pathways, or records are missing.
5
Classify
Keep documented facts, indirect evidence, research leads, contradictions, and unresolved questions distinct.
6
Preserve the Gap
Do not fill uncertainty with assumption. Missing records, contradictions, restrictions, and unresolved questions remain visible.
Follow the connections
A record rarely stands alone.
A document may connect to a contractor, facility, material, operation, worker population, monitoring system, repository, and ultimately a question about historical exposure or reconstruction.
Test what the record represents
Authentic does not always mean representative.
Rosetta asks who and what the surviving evidence actually covers—and who, what, or which periods may be absent.
Preserve what we do not know
Uncertainty is part of the historical record.
Missing records, contradictory statements, classification or access restrictions, and unresolved questions are preserved rather than silently converted into certainty.
Want the deeper methodology?
See how Rosetta evaluates evidence.
The Evidence Explorer explains source hierarchy, missing-record status, worker representation, contradictions, expected-record testing, and dose reconstructability in greater detail.
Research accountability
Assertions have to be supported by evidence.
Rosetta does not ask readers to trust its conclusions. Every substantive finding should be traceable to identifiable evidence, uncertainty remains visible, and later evidence is recorded without rewriting historical status.