Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/V. Gordon Childe/archive1


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was archived by Sarastro1 via FACBot (talk) 23:11, 11 March 2018.

V. Gordon Childe

 * Nominator(s): Midnightblueowl (talk) 16:34, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

This article is about one of the most prominent archaeologists to ever live. He may have been a man of short stature, but he was a giant in the study of European prehistory. The article has been GA for some time, and since the successful promotion of other archaeology-themed biographies like Margaret Murray, O. G. S. Crawford, and Mortimer Wheeler, I believe that it is time that the Gordon Childe article join them. Midnightblueowl (talk) 16:34, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

Lingzhi

 * Strongly suggest you add  to Special:MyPage/common.js and   to Special:MyPage/common.css, then look at your notes, references etc. for various errors. Lingzhi ♦ (talk) 17:16, 20 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Wow, that really works! Thanks for the tip, Lingzhi. Midnightblueowl (talk) 14:55, 21 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I see 10 spots where p and pp are incorrectly used for page numbers, e.g. "P/PP error: Trigger 1980, p. 9, 32;" and "P/PP error: Green 1981, pp. 154." Lingzhi ♦ (talk) 15:04, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I think that I have now fixed all of these instances. Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:31, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

Image review
 * Captions that aren't complete sentences shouldn't end in periods
 * I have removed all extraneous periods. Midnightblueowl (talk) 15:37, 21 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Don't use fixed pixel size for images, per WP:IMGSIZE
 * I have removed the fixed pixel sizes. Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:39, 21 January 2018 (UTC)


 * File:Gordon_Childe.jpg: where was this first published? Nikkimaria (talk) 17:27, 20 January 2018 (UTC)
 * According to the National Library of Australia page, it was never published (at least, not before they uploaded an image of it onto their website). Midnightblueowl (talk) 13:43, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

Noswall59
You don't need to add this if you don't want to, but Eric Hobsbawm called Childe "probably the most original English Marxist writer from the days of my youth." —Noswall59 (talk) 11:42, 22 January 2018 (UTC).
 * I think that that's a good idea. I will add it in. Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:44, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

Sources review
Just a few presentation points:
 * There's a plethora of hyphens in page ranges – 12, 14, 15, 16 and many others. All need to be changed to ndashes
 * I've gone through and corrected every instance of this error. Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:41, 4 February 2018 (UTC)


 * Various "p."s need to be changed to "pp." – 29, 45, 46 & possibly more
 * I've gone through and fixed these. Mostly a leftover remnant from when (circa 2011) I used "p." for everything rather than the correct "pp." Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:33, 4 February 2018 (UTC)


 * Ref 86 lacks a page number
 * Fixed! Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:33, 4 February 2018 (UTC)


 * In the bibliography, the Harris entry is unduly cumbersome – I don't see the purpose in the secondary entries.
 * It's an edited volume, so I don't wish to give the impression that Harris wrote the whole book when he only produced certain chapters. The present situation makes that clear; changing it might, in my view, result in some confusion. Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:36, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

Otherwise, all sources look to be of appropriate quality and reliability. Brianboulton (talk) 16:53, 22 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Many thanks for taking a look, Brian. Midnightblueowl (talk) 21:41, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

Tintor2
The article is well written and the images seem well placed. The only thing that bothers me is that his bibiliography section is completely unsourced. Is it possible to add citations? Ping me once you think it's okay and I'll support it. Regards. Also, if possible a fellow user and I made this FAC and would appreciate feedback if possible.Tintor2 (talk) 16:29, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

Maunus
A very pleasant and interesting read. The article is clearly well-researched and thorough - I see no POV problems or major omissions. I tweaked some wordings that I found a little too quaint, and made other minor copyedits. The only issue sthat I thought I would want to change is that I think it could be a little clearer in explaining earlier on the difference between culture historical theory (which is diffusionist and particularist in Childe's version) and Marxist theory (which is evolutionist). I think these perspectives ought to be explained in simple language when they are first mentioned. I also think that the article does not allow the reader a clear understanding of how archeology can be Marxist - and what that means. Many might think of Marxism as primarily a political commitment, but Marxism is of course different from most political ideologies in that it also includes scientific theory of history: namely Historical materialism (which probably should be mentioned and linked somewhere in the article). So a descrption of how Marxism and archeology fits together would make the article more helpful for the reader who does not immediately see the connection (namely that Marxism explains historical processes as material and technological evolution that prompts social evolution, and that archeology studies material and technological developments, and therefore can use Marxism to infer social developments from the material developments they observe). This would be my only query: to be more explicit in describing his theoretical views and contributions in plain language.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 18:58, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

Closing comment: This FAC has been open for six weeks without achieving a consensus that it meets the FA criteria. Therefore it will be archived shortly and can be renominated after the usual two-week waiting period. Sarastro (talk) 23:11, 11 March 2018 (UTC)

Sarastro (talk) 23:11, 11 March 2018 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.