Dating clues checklist
For each clue family: is it present, absent, or impossible to tell? Note what that fact rules out.
HistoryGuesser
| Clue family | What to ask · what it rules out | Seen? |
|---|---|---|
| Building materials | Stone, mud brick, timber, fired brick, cast iron, steel, reinforced concrete, glass curtain wall? Steel frames and plate glass mean post-1880. Fired brick and lime mortar are Roman or later. Dressed stone without mortar points much earlier. | yesnocan't tell |
| Power and machines | Is anything moving that muscle or wind is not moving? Look for smoke, chimneys, cables, pylons. Chimney smoke over a townscape means coal, so post-1750 in Europe. Overhead cables mean post-1880. Nothing but animals and sails rules out the industrial era. | yesnocan't tell |
| Transport | Carts, pack animals, sail, oar, rails, tyres, tarmac, aircraft? Rails put you after 1825, pneumatic tyres after 1888, tarmac roads after 1900. Oared warships and pack trains rule out all of that. | yesnocan't tell |
| Clothing and armour | Woven or tailored? Dyed or undyed? Plate, mail, leather, uniform, mass-produced clothing? Full plate armour is roughly 1400–1600. Standardised uniforms suggest a state army, so post-1650. Bright even dyes across a crowd suggest industrial dyeing, post-1856. | yesnocan't tell |
| Writing and signage | Any script visible? Carved, painted, printed, illuminated, neon? Script narrows the region before it narrows the century. Printed lettering is post-1450 in Europe, painted commercial signage largely post-1700, neon post-1910. | yesnocan't tell |
| Construction stage | Is the structure finished, half-built, ruined or restored? What is holding it up while it is built? Timber scaffolding and treadwheel cranes are pre-industrial. Steel scaffold tube and jib cranes are 20th century. A ruin dates the scene after the building's collapse, not after its completion. | yesnocan't tell |
| Land use and vegetation | Field shape, terracing, hedges, canals, cleared forest, imported plants? Regular enclosed fields suggest post-enclosure Europe. New World crops in Eurasia mean post-1500. Uncleared forest around a settlement suggests a low population. | yesnocan't tell |
| Light and weather | Where is the sun, how long are the shadows, what is the season, is anything lit artificially? Artificial light after dark is gas from about 1810 and electric from about 1880. Shadow angle plus season hints at latitude, which supports or contradicts your place guess. | yesnocan't tell |
Narrow it down, in this order
- What is it built of? → millennium
- What is powering it? → century
- How do people and goods move? → decade band
- What are people wearing? → region and rank
- Any writing? → region first, then date
- Finished, building or ruined? → which date you are giving
A clue you cannot read is still evidence: write down what you would need to see in order to decide.