Chronicle · Provenance

Chronicle Provenance Model

Provenance records how information, Sources, Evidence, and authoritative references originated, were accessed or captured, moved through systems, and entered the Chronicle historical record.

Provenance is required for production Chronicle Entries because a historical record is more trustworthy when future reviewers can reconstruct not only what Chronicle says, but how the underlying information reached Chronicle.

Core Provenance Question

How did this information get here?

Provenance documents the path into Chronicle. It complements Sources, Evidence, Relationships, and Verification without replacing any of them.

Provenance Boundary

Source = Where information came from.
Evidence = What bears on the Entry or claim.
Provenance = How the information originated, moved, and entered Chronicle.
Verification = Chronicle's review of its own historical representation.

Origin

Identifies the system, institution, repository, person, Source, or authoritative record from which the information originated.

Required

Acquisition / Access

Records how Chronicle obtained or accessed the information, such as direct system reference, public webpage, repository access, archive retrieval, file receipt, or other method.

Required

Capture or Retrieval Date

Records when Chronicle accessed, captured, retrieved, or otherwise obtained the material used in the Entry.

Required

Source / Record Reference

Connects the provenance path to the applicable Source Record, authoritative record, repository object, archive reference, or other identifiable origin.

Required when available

Transfer / Transformation

Records material movement or transformation that occurred before information entered Chronicle, such as export, conversion, transcription, archival capture, or migration.

Conditional

Preservation Path

Records how material was archived, retained, mirrored, migrated, or otherwise preserved when those steps matter to traceability.

Conditional

Integrity Metadata

May include hashes, checksums, signatures, timestamps, immutable references, or other integrity indicators where available and operationally useful.

Optional / Conditional

Provenance Limitations

Records missing links, uncertain origin, incomplete custody, unavailable originals, or other limitations in the provenance chain.

Required when applicable

Minimum Production Provenance

Every production Chronicle Entry must preserve enough provenance to reconstruct the origin and acquisition path of the information used to create the Entry.

Origin · Acquisition / Access Method · Capture / Retrieval Date · Source or Authoritative Record Reference when available · Provenance Limitations when applicable

Minimum Does Not Mean Complete Chain of Custody

Chronicle does not require forensic-grade custody documentation for every Entry. Deeper provenance should be recorded when the history, Evidence, Source quality, integrity risk, or Event-Type Profile makes it necessary.

Minimum provenance for every Entry.
Expanded provenance when risk or historical importance requires it.

Provenance and Sources

A Source identifies an origin object or publication. Provenance records the path from that Source into Chronicle.

Source: Certification Package
Provenance: Referenced directly from Certifier repository on a recorded date

Provenance and Evidence

Evidence describes what material bears on the Entry or claim. Provenance records how that Evidence was obtained and preserved.

Evidence may be strong while Provenance is incomplete.
Provenance may be complete while Evidence has limited probative value.

Provenance and Verification

Verification consumes Provenance as part of Chronicle's review. Verification does not create Provenance retroactively.

Provenance provides traceability.
Verification reviews whether that traceability supports Chronicle's representation.

Authoritative Object Provenance

When Chronicle references an authoritative Suite object, Provenance should identify the originating system and the method by which Chronicle accessed the authoritative record.

Originating System → Authoritative Object → Access / Retrieval → Chronicle Entry

The provenance path does not transfer authority from the originating system to Chronicle.

Derived and Transformed Material

If Chronicle uses exported, converted, summarized, transcribed, normalized, or migrated material, the material transformation should be visible where it may affect interpretation or authenticity.

Original → Transformation → Chronicle-use representation

Broken or Incomplete Provenance

Incomplete Provenance does not automatically make an Occurrence ineligible for preservation. Chronicle should preserve the limitation explicitly and allow Verification to assess its impact.

Unknown does not become known by omission.

Provenance and Relationships

Relationships may connect an Entry to Source Records, authoritative records, or other objects. Provenance explains the information path associated with those connections.

Relationship semantics should not be overloaded to carry full provenance history.

Provenance and Versioning

Material provenance changes should be traceable through Entry Versions or supporting record Versions when they change the historical representation or the confidence placed in it.

Provenance Validation

Chronicle Validation confirms that required Provenance elements are present, structurally valid, and consistent with the referenced Source, Evidence, or authoritative object.

Required fields present · References resolvable · Dates valid · Origin identified · Limitations represented when known

First Production Provenance

Chronicle's Provenance Model has now been exercised in production through CHR-2026-0001 Entry Version 1.

Origin: Satoshium Certifier
Acquisition Method: production_review_of_authoritative_and_supporting_suite_records
Retrieved At: 2026-08-22T08:06:00-07:00
Primary Authoritative Reference: SC-CERT-2026-0001

The production preservation path was recorded as:

Satoshium Atlas → Atlas Jurisdiction Record — El Salvador → Satoshium Certifier → SC-CERT-2026-0001 → Satoshium Registry → SREG-2026-0001 → Satoshium Chronicle → CHR-2026-0001

This path records information lineage and historical preservation flow. It does not transfer institutional authority among Atlas, Certifier, Registry, and Chronicle.

Provenance Principle

Chronicle should preserve enough of the information path that a future reviewer can understand not only what the Entry says, but how Chronicle came to say it.

Preserve origin. Preserve path. Preserve limitations.

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