User:MikeEK1998/Hadrian's Wall/Oldchien.rb Peer Review

- Along with the introduction section, there are also the Dimensions and Route sections. While they all appear well developed I will instead be focusing on clarifying any confusing language, something of which I noticed in the Dimensions section as it at least personally is hard to follow with the amount of technical language.

''In the fourth line, the words "roman mile" are highlighted. The drop down gives a good definition of an English mile but does not clarify the meaning of "roman mile".''

''The dimensions section needs some sources. Also, the picture of the limestone corner seems out of place if not totally irrelevant.''

- The Route section serves a similar problem but only in that all of the British area names are quite literally foreign to me so its a bit hard to understand but that is more down to personal ignorance than a problem with the article.

''I believe the route section is adequate as it is. The maps on the right clarify possible misunderstandings. I don't think you need to do any revising here.''

- On the matter of images, most look appropriate for the article but some of the diagrams are a bit confusing. I don't exactly find that to be a problem with the article but a problem with the original artists so I think that should be good too.

- And finally, I think most of this article has the right amount of content and so I will mainly focus on clarification, adding citation where needed, and yes, revising where I deem necessary.

Purpose of construction
- This section is well developed but I still think it deserves more work and also the addition of more theories/ideas on the purpose of the Wall's construction, which I will do with more research.

''I agree that some additional research would be useful here. One reference states clearly that a citation is needed and most of the section seems to have been taken from one source. Anthony Everett's, Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome.''

Construction
- The section on the general construction of the Wall also seems developed well but I will take a further look to see if anything could be added or clarified.

''I agree that this section on general construction is fairly well developed however, the text could be improved by re-writing either in a chronological fashion or sub-sections devoted to each idea. Also, it would benefit from more citations. There is probably something you could use on the English Heritage site'' https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hadrians-wall

- The following two sections, with the latter "The Vallum" being a new addition I've made, was my biggest problem with this article. The original "Broad Wall" and "Narrow Wall" section was not cited at all so it required me to start from scratch with this one. "The Vallum" section was an addition I felt the article required and did the liberty of hyperlinking it to its own page, which I discovered existed. It is why I kept the section brief.

- As for the Turf Wall and Structure sections on the original article page, I am still looking into this and seeing if it requires further development or editing.

"Broad Wall" and "Narrow Wall"
'''The terms "Broad Wall" and "Narrow Wall" are used to describe different sections of Hadrian's Wall. They are aptly named as they are referring to the width of a particular section as some areas are wider than others. Couse, when looking at the work of R.G. Collingwood, discusses how Collingwood found evidence for the existence of a broad section of the Wall and conversely a narrow section. Collingwood argues that plans changed during construction of the Wall and its overall width was reduced, resulting in both broad and narrow sections of the Wall. Broad sections of the Wall are around nine and a half feet wide with the narrow sections of the Wall two feet thinner, being around seven and a half feet wide. '''

'''Collingwood arrives at his argument as a result of evidence discovered in the narrow sections of the Wall. These narrow sections were found to be built upon broad foundations. Collingwood then concludes that the Wall was to be built "between present-day Newcastle and Bowness", with a uniform width of ten Roman feet. Plans however changed and resulted in "three-fifths" of the Wall being built from stone and the remaining part of the Wall in the west being a turf wall, not made of stone. Plans possibly changed due to a lack of resources. '''

'''So in an effort to preserve resources further, the eastern half’s width was reduced from the original ten Roman feet to eight, with the remaining stones from the eastern half used for the turf wall in the west. '''

''This is an excellent addition to the article. My only suggestion would be to include a few more sources for your citations.''

The Vallum
'''South of the Wall there is a ten feet deep, ditch like construction known as "the Vallum", which to its south is a twenty feet high mound of dirt. The Vallum and the Wall have in many ways shared pathways that led many nineteenth century thinkers to note ponder their relation to one another. On one hand, evidence showed the Wall to have shifted its pathway to avoid the Wall, possibly pointing to the Vallum being an older construction. Collingwood, based upon this among other research, "asserted in 1930, as a matter of certainty, that the Vallum was built before the Wall in its final form, the narrow stone Wall." Collingwood considered whether or not the Vallum was even built before the idea of the Wall, further questioning if the Vallum was in fact an original border built before the Wall, defining the end of Roman territory. And that based upon this consideration, the Wall was a new, replacement border built to strengthen the Roman's definition of their territory. '''

'''In 1936, further research however showed that the Vallum couldn’t have been built before the Wall as it clearly avoided one of its milecastles, so Collingwood was forced into a new conclusion “that the Vallum was built at the same time as the Wall.” This new discovery was continually supported by more evidence, strengthening the idea that there was a simultaneous construction of the Vallum and the Wall. '''

'''Other evidence still pointed in other, slightly different directions. The evidence showed that the Vallum preceded sections of the narrow wall and as a result an explanation was required for this discrepancy, as Couse explains saying “either construction of the Vallum began with the broad Wall or it began when the narrow Wall succeeded the broad Wall but proceeded more quickly than that of the narrow Wall”. '''

''Also an excellent addition. The vallum seems to have been ignored in many discussions of the wall and your inclusion of it here is an important improvement of the article.''

Garrison
- This a section I am looking forward to developing further as at the moment it appears to be vague, unclear, and thoroughly under developed.

''There could be a lot to do here. As you state, it seems a bit vague and underdeveloped. there may be some useful information in Eric Birley's, Research on Hadrian's Wall (1969)''

After Hadrian
- This section appears to be one of the most developed in the article so I don't think I will have to add much more but I'm sure I'll be able to find something that needs clarifying or reworking.

Agreed.

Roman-period names
- This section seems thorough and self-explanatory so I don't think it will require much editing at all.

I would agree that revising this section would be unnecessary and could turn out to be a major undertaking.

In popular culture
- This section is well developed, in terms of the amount of content provided, but it unfortunately is lacking some citation so I will have to look into verifying these claims.

It might be possible to abbreviate this section by providing best examples from each medium.

''Overall, I think you have made an excellent start at improving this article. I can only hope that whoever is peer-reviewing mine finds it as well done as yours. Keep up the good work and congratulations.''