Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft: Bildstatistisches Elementarwerk - Peking : 1100-240 v. Chr.-220-1270 n. Chr.-Nach 1270-1930 [14080.071]
The pattern
This still is filed under Data as proof.
Define
A chart, map, or count that is the argument, not an illustration next to the argument.
Mechanism
Sighted evidence. The reader is asked to believe their eyes: a bar, a share, a spread on a map.
Verdict
The claim is comparative or quantitative and the figure can be read without a caption doing the sell.
Why it works
Small multiples with a locked scale do the whole job: because the four plans share one kilometre bar, growth is not asserted anywhere in the text, it is simply the size of the mark on the page. Under each plan the same story is told a second time in a different measure, counted figures for population, which lets the reader see that area and people did not grow at the same rate. Keeping the panel background a constant grey rectangle means the empty space around the early city is itself information. The colour key separating verbaut from vermutlich verbaut admits where the evidence runs out instead of drawing confident lines over guesswork.
Steal this when
Use this when you want to show change over a long span in something physical - footprint, coverage, headcount - and a trend line would flatten it. Lock the scale across every panel and put a second, differently measured count beneath each one.