Trace data is the evidence left by concluded behavior.
Trace data is the artifact left by past behavior.
Trace data can be abstract (such as, a conceptual idea, for example, a system of laws) or concrete (such as, the remains of war, invention, footprints in the sand, the black-eye from a punch).
Trace data left by behavior, is data that if preserved unaltered, cannot be corrupted or influenced by subsequent intent, but it can be a result of explicit intent.
The study of what has been is a valid pursuit of scientific history, the identification and understanding of the past, of past empirical reality.
“Information” that is commonly called and taught as “history” is empirically the theology of nationalism. It forms the rationale of a belief system used to maintain social/civil order, stability and the sociopolitical cohesiveness of a tribe, group, religion, ideology and/or nation.
By studying trace data, one can better identify empirical reality, past and present.