Talk:Chestnuts Long Barrow

This page seems to be inconsistent in its use of the definite article ("the") before "Chestnuts Long Barrow". The first two instances in the lead include it, but the rest of the article does not. Reliable sources generally seem not to prefer either option, but it would be desirable if we could standardise this article's usage of "the" before the TFA appearance on 4 June. Any thoughts? — RAVENPVFF · talk · 15:00, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

:You're right, this is inconsistent. I'll remove the two examples of the definite article from the lede. Midnightblueowl (talk) 17:14, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

It's good to see an article on the British neolithic reaching FA status, but really, it's like the last 20 years of research didn't happen. In the "background" section, the early neolithic is dated 4500-3800 BCE, whereas modern Baysian analysis of the radiocarbon dates (Whittle et al 2011, Gathering Time, Oxbow books), puts the earliest British neolithic at about 4100 BC with uncertainty of less than a century. One of the key pieces of dating evidence is the large neolithic timber hall at White Horse Stone (c. 4065-3940 BC) the earliest known neolithic building in Britain, very close to the Chestnuts Barrow (described e.g. in David Miles' The tale of the Axe, 2016); it is astonishing that this is not mentioned in the article. The same section retains the diffusionist model, but aDNA analysis shows large-scale population replacement at the start of the neolithic: e.g., Olaide et al (2019, Nature) confirms that neolithic Britons were descended from Anatolian farmers and had very little contribution from the mesolithic (WHG) population; in fact Miles notes that there is no evidence for mesolithic inhabitants in Kent for several centuries prior to the start of the neolithic. PaddyLeahy (talk) 09:30, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

:{{ping|PaddyLeahy}} Feel free to improve the article if you have access to those papers. RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 16:01, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

::As the lead author on this particular article, I appreciate you taking the time to offer this comment, PaddyLeahy. I haven't really been keeping up with much of the scientific analysis on Neolithic Britain over the past decade and I think you make a very fair point that this article (and similar ones) should pay more heed to that material. I'm grabbing a copy of Gathering Time to see how we can utilise it in this article (and related ones). As for the timber hall near the White Horse Stone, it is true that we do not discuss it in this particular article, but it does get discussed in the White Horse Stone article itself, where we cite the original excavation report. I'm not completely convinced that it is wholly necessary to discuss that particular site in this article on Chestnuts, but I'm open to having my opinion changed. Midnightblueowl (talk) 17:14, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

:::{{u|Midnightblueowl}}, I have a copy of Gathering Time and can look up anything you're interested in, if you don't have a copy already. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 17:32, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

::::{{u|Mike Christie}} Many thanks for your kind offer but I have now obtained a copy - I look forward to reading it! Midnightblueowl (talk) 08:55, 6 June 2020 (UTC)