h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The h2g2 University Project Link Page : British Burial Barrows: A History - A18104717
Author: Bob Stafford (Keeper of The Treacle Shadow) - U3151547


This project covers the barrows of Britain right from Neolithic times up to the last Viking burials.

Author - Bob Stafford U3151547
SubEditor - Alex Ashman U566116

A17974722 - Introduction
A18152354 - The Cultures
A18065982 - Bowl Barrows
A18066044 - Bell Barrows
A18066116 - Disc Barrows
A18021197 - Pond and Saucer Barrows A18066152 - Viking And Saxon Boat And Barrow Burials

Alex

Still waiting for someone to comment...

I'm sorry Alex, I've been really busy
I'll go read them now

A17974722 Introduction (is in the EGWW)

re useable = my brain is mush, I know that's wrong but I can't think of the correct spelling.

un-sealed = unsealed

<>
I usually place a comma in the date if it's over a thousand, you have both with and without, and should be consistent.



A18152354 The Cultures (also in the EGWW)

Same comment about the dates.

pre history = prehistory

These first steps gave the Neolithic people more tome to develop such things as building skills
tome = time

farm land for 3 or 4 years = three or four

not even twentieth century man = 20th Century

established thair kings = their

honour thair departed nobility = their

brought furthur climactic change = further

In just one year temperature dropped = (not sure if that should be "the temperature" or "temperatures")

where the had strong = they

Some of the gold artefacts = artifacts

They were acomplished warriors = accomplished

Germany, Holland, Austria, Spain, Portugal and France. Is that supposed to be a sentence?

And on the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Sicily. = bad grammar: work into previous sentence.

<>
I'm unsure about comparing Yorkshire people their neighbours. In today's multi-cultural society every county is diverse.

That's all I have time for right now, sorry, I'll try and do some more tomorrow

Sorted

I've left the dates as they are due to the fact that the year 2007 AD isn't referred to as 2,007 despite the rule that large numbers should be written that way.

A18065982 Bowl Barrows (needs removing from the EGWW)

to as small as 4 metres = four

Groups of betwen = between

<>
This is what I meant earlier about the dates, both with and without commas are displayed, when you should be consistent


A18066044 Bell Barrows (needs removing from the EGWW)

burial of un-cremated remains = uncremated


A18066116 Disc Barrows (needs removing from the EGWW)

burial un-cremated remains = burial *of* *uncremated*

no higher than 2 metres = two


A18021197 Pond and Saucer Barrows (needs removing from the EGWW)

This indicates the appearance the pond barrow = *of* the pond barrow

but just a clear well defined = well-defined

dish shaped depression = dish-shaped

within a 5 to 20 = five

sizes vary from 5 = five

Footnote requires punctuation = in Dorset.

fourteen had pottery = 14

The pits were of all of widely varying periods = The pits were all of widely varying periods


A18066152 Viking And Saxon Boat And Barrow Burials (needs removing from the EGWW)

I'll have to read through the last one tomorrow (later today) am far too tired to concentrate any more tonight

Sorted, though as I already explained in Post 6, it is not common to add a comma to a year less than 5,000. The year 2000 AD does not have a comma, and so it would seem inconsistent to give the year 2000 BC a comma. There are several 'modern' dates in the timeline, and adding commas would not be consistent with the way in which modern dates are presented throughout the Edited Guide. However, guidelines state that all numbers over 1,000 should have commas, and so I have added commas to those dates greater than or equal to 5,000.

Oh and one of the Entries in the project has already been removed from the EGWW but was submitted to Peer Review due to confusion... I don't have the rights to remove the Entries from the EGWW or the AWW (see Disc Barrows) - only Bob has.

Alex

It is normal not to add commas to the years in dates, so it should be 5000 BC, not 5,000 BC. This convention might cause a problem if we got back to 1000000 BC, but I don't see it as a problem for 5000 BC.

I really will try and have a read through these soon, Bob and Alex, but I'm going away for a few days, so it certainly won't be before Saturday.

As far as I am aware EGWW or AWW have no entries in them for review, all correct now

A quick look at the Introduction shows that it is still confusing at the start. The introductory paragraphs (the ones before the first header) talk about the different types of barrow, then the list is repeated in the section on Long Barrows and Cairns. You should get the introductory bit sorted, listing what you're going to talk about, then confine each section with a header to only talking about what it says in the header.

Bob and Gnomon - I've moved that list to the introduction of the Introduction and I've started removing the commas from dates

A18066152 Viking And Saxon Boat And Barrow Burials
(the status is now "not for review" which is still incorrect) Just uncheck the "not for review" box and then click update, Bob

The two main forms of this custom were full cremation and inhumation. I assume by "inhumation" you mean full burial (interment) - but I have never heard of "inhumation" and had to look it up in my dictionary (OED) and it's not there, so I suggest it is changed to "interment" or "burial"



Cremation burials often contained items of grave goods one cremation urn contained a comb, others have been found with other small personal items of a domestic nature.
=
Cremation burials often contained items of grave goods. One cremation urn contained a comb, while others have been found with other small personal items of a domestic nature.
I am unsure what you mean by small personal items of a domestic nature - could you give an example? I mean, the comb is a "small personal item" so if the domestic item is different, it shouldn't be labelled personal, but a small domestic item - such as ****.



<> suggest rewording to "The graves of the females"



accomodatedby = accommodated by

The unticking of the Not For Review box is the sub's job

I've made those changes as well

Alex

Any more comments? Is this anywhere near being finished?

Nothing more from me

Now that my Byzantium project is finished, I finally have time to give this project some serious thought. I promise I'll look over the entries in the next day or so.

G

A17974722 - Introduction

I think you should link to each of the project entries within the text of the Introduction, as well as in the header. That's what GB and I did in the Byzantium project.

You have both "age" and "Age". I believe it should be a capital A in all cases such as Neolithic Age, Iron Age etc.

Dolmens, also known as Cromlechs or Hunebedden, were Megalithic single-chambered monuments constructed with between three and five stone slabs and covered by an mound of earth. -- are you sure of this? I know that in Ireland it used to be thought that Dolmens were originally covered with earth, but opinion has changed in the last 20 years, and it is now thought that they were built to be exposed, with no mound. I'd be very surprised if the identical-looking dolmens in Britain were built in a completely different way. Look into this - if there is a difference of opinion among the scholars, at least report this in the entry.

In the Barrow Time Line, I'd like to see the terms Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic explained. They are "Old Stone Age", "Middle Stone Age" and "New Stone Age" respectively.


The Beaker People were named after the style the pottery vessels -- insert "of" after "style".

"Built in the early and middle Neolithic era, long barrows were oblong burial mounds which were higher and wider at one end with a chamber or chambers or just earth mounds." -- I don't understand this. Does it mean that sometimes long barrows had no chamber, or that they weren't burial mounds at all, or what?

"were reusable or could be re-opened access gained after the initial burial." -- there's something wrong with this sentence - it doesn't quite make sense.

They are not attributable to a culture --> They are not attributable to a particular culture

laying out the shape on earthen platform built to take the cairn -->
laying out the shape on an earthen platform built to take the cairn

The various types and style of barrow used several types of building techniques -- the repition of "types" is cumbersome. I suggest you change it to:
The various types and styles of barrow used several building techniques

associated with female burials, as saucer barrows -- change the comma to either a semicolon or a colon

G

I've corrected all the instances of 'age' in the project and made all the changes except:

"Dolmens, also known as Cromlechs or Hunebedden" etc. - you'll have to ask Bob about that one.

'"with a chamber or chambers or just earth mounds." -- I don't understand this.' - I've removed the words 'or just earth mounds' for now, pending an explanation from Bob.



Alex