TEMPORAL METHOD
Separate the clocks.
Every essay identifies which event is being dated, by which evidence and at what precision.
Define the event
Manufacture, use, repair, deposition, excavation and treatment are independent events. One date is not silently transferred to another.
Name the chronology
Reign, dynasty, archaeological phase, calendar range and relative sequence are retained as different systems.
Keep uncertainty
Qualifiers, measured ranges and contested attributions remain visible. Greater numerical precision is not assumed to mean greater confidence.
Preserve sequence
When an exact calendar date is unavailable, earlier-than and later-than relationships still provide historical knowledge.
Add the museum present
Conservation and display are documented events, not neutral states outside history.