User:Tannbonn/sandbox

The article I chose to evaluate Maya ceramics

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

- The content in the article is relevant to the subject of the article, but there were a few sections that did not have much content and I felt that those sections needed much more content as they were very prevalent to understanding the subject of Mayan Ceramics. For example: there was great detail of the development and production of the ceramics, but not nearly enough information on the decoration of use of the ceramics. I imagined that the ceramics were probably fairly important to the daily Mayan life and also probably had sentimental value. I would have liked to see more information on those topics related to Mayan Ceramics.

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

-This article is fairly neutral; however, there were a few instances that I noticed the author of this article used words like, "wonderful" and "beautiful" to describe the ceramics. These words can be omitted for a more neutral article.

Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

-The sections regarding function/use and decoration of the Mayan Ceramics are very underrepresented compared to the production techniques, development chronology, and sample timelines of the ceramics. I felt as though the use and decoration are insignificant, which is contradictory to the header paragraph of the article.

Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

-Out of the two citations, there was only one link provided. The link directed me to a page that "could not be found." The website the supposed source came from looked fairly legitimate, but I could not find factual statements about Mayan ceramics. So, I would answer this question with a no.

 Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?   -The facts in the article do not have citations within the article relating them to the reference, but there are references cited in the reference section that are reliable. These references are neutral. The three references used for this article come from books; Michael Coe's The Maya, Mary Ellen Miller's Maya Art and Architecture, and Dorie Reents-Budet et al's Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. I would argue many more sources are needed and more facts could probably be pulled and generalized from these references.

Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

-Some of the information might be slightly out of date. Half of the comments on the Talk page were more than 5 years old (2003-2012). If this article were to progress, the comments on the Talk page might need to be verified again.

 Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? 

-On the Talk page, there are conversations about: references, image uploads and references to those, the table showing the timeline and chronology of Mayan ceramics, additional preclassic pottery information suggesting to be added, and an evaluation of the Form and Function section. All of these are arguably helpful ideas for the articles as well as constructive criticism/feedback.

How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

-This article has been rated start-class and mid-importance. The article is indeed part of the WikiProjects.

How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

-So far in class we have not discussed the topic of Mayan Ceramics—or more generally, Mesoamerican art—at all.

Tannbonn (talk) 19:50, 22 September 2017 (UTC)

Inca Society

My partner and I chose this article because the article needed more material added to it, and we were intrigued with the Incans. Within the article, there are numerous places to add additional information (especially missing information on infrastructure and hygiene), so we thought it would be necessary to add more information dealing with infrastructure and hygiene/sanitation to fully develop the information on the knowledge of the Incas and the adaptations taken in their society. Also, we thought about adding information to the "Politics" and "Religion" sections.

Outline

-Add to sections on religion.

"The belief system of the Incas was polytheistic. Inti, the Sun God, was the most important god, which the Incas believed was the direct ancestor of the Sapa Inca, the title of the hereditary rulers of the empire. The Inca took part in spiritual human sacrifices known as the capacocha. These offerings were carried out on large mountains where ceremonial sites were constructed, and were believed to have been made for numerous events such as: important festivals, natural phenomenons, and efforts to please the mountain deities. The vilca camayos were the overseers of the offerings, in which they had decision on where the sacrifices were made and the amount of sacrifices made on each mountain." this section is taken from the article Inca Society. Kmmy47 (talk) 16:35, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Religion: Inca ceremonies held capacochas, human sacrifices. These sacrifices were taken out onto mountains all throughout the Andes and placed alive into burial tombs where they were left with items such as figurines, coca leaves, food, alcoholic beverages, and pottery. Capacohas likely took place every year to honor mountain deities and on special occasions. These mountain deities were worshiped because it was believed that they controlled things like rainfall, water flow and therefore, the abundance and fertility of crops. ,  Kmmy47 (talk) 21:35, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

-Add to section on politics.

"Inca government is generally seen as an omnipotent emperor that ruled over a bureaucracy made up of local elites who had been recruited to serve in the state. This style of rule is often credited to Cuzco's success." Section copied from Inca Society Tannbonn (talk) 16:31, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

The Inca empire was adamant about expansion and did so through two imperialism strategies: territorial administration and indirect-hegemonic control. Territorial administration consisted of complete take over of provinces by reorganizing the economy through increased agricultural production and control of exchange routes via the Incan road system. Territorial administration allowed the Inca empire put in a great deal of effort to control a new territory in hopes to strengthen the empire by a flow of surplus goods back to the empire core from the overtaken province. Indirect-hegemonic control allowed the Incas to gain control over a province, but would allow the local leaders to govern the province. The reason behind this strategy was to gain land and flow of surplus goods back to the empire core without spending a great deal of effort to overtake and govern. . Tannbonn (talk) 17:02, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

Imperial rule was sustained through enforcement by Incan rulers and military troops on a random basis, as well as education of provincial elite youth of the Incan way of life. Temples and shrines were also constructed in overtaken provinces to inflict Incan religion upon provincial peoples. Tannbonn (talk) 17:02, 10 November 2017 (UTC)
  

-Create section on infrastructure (that includes road systems and water systems) Water systems section should include information on sanitation for overall Incan health.

Infrastructure Notes:

-Road system: The "Qhapaq Ñan" (Inca Road)was largely used and constructed across the Inca Empire. Uses were not only for nobility to spread information and expand the empire, but was also used for soldiers, for transportation of goods, and for private usage. Not only were Incan roads expansive, but they were also well planned and maintained. The Incans made a standard design for the roads and carried out the standard throughout the empire. Roads were built so that they were easily drained to prevent damage of the roads and flooding. The roads were cleaned often by designated maintenance workers.  Tannbonn (talk) 16:40, 13 October 2017 (UTC) Lodges for traveling nobles were also constructed alongside the roads. Rest stops called tambos were built close to roads with water supplies leading to each so that travelers and messengers could have a place to rest and clean water to drink. Military store houses were also built near the roads and  kept food for when troops were traveling. Bridges were built across rivers that were too deep to cross, and large flat stones were placed along the sides of roads as markers to distinguish different sections of the roads.  Kmmy47 (talk) 01:54, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

Peer Review Comments Hemnq9 (talk) 16:53, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

Overall comment/most important thing the author(s) can do to improve the article: Make sure added sections that you wrote flow naturally with the sections that were already in the article

1st paragraph: Religion

• Grammar/punctuation:
  • Such as: figurines, coca leaves,” etc. does not need the :
  • Rainfall is one word
  • “controlled things like rain fall, water flow, and, therefore, the abundance…” add comma after therefore
• Expand upon what special occasions the capacochas took place during
• I thought it was interesting info and good professional tone!
• Is this paragraph going to completely replace the paragraph taken from the main article? I suggest (and maybe you are already doing this) that it should be added on to or replace some of the copied section because it expands upon the capacohas information while still keeping information on the specifics deities

2nd Paragraph: Politics

• Very informative paragraph and well-written!
• I suggest separating this paragraph into 2 paragraphs. The first paragraph can talk about the ways the Inca expanded the empire and the 2nd paragraph can focus more on how the Imperialistic view was sustained. I think having 2 paragraphs would make it flow more naturally.

3rd Paragraph: Road system

• Again, interesting info! I think this section adds significant information on the Incan society
• The last sentence I think should be split up into multiple sentences or use a : followed by the list of info

4th Paragraph: Water Systems

• Is “civil engineer” a word that should be used to describes Incans? (to me, that’s a more modern word); maybe say something along the lines of “civil engineer of their time”
• Move last sentence starting with “The Inca understood…” to the sentence after “A temple was built…” Then go into saying how they acquired this water and the engineering that went into it. I think this would make it flow better.
• Good tone!

Hemnq9 (talk) 16:53, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

-Water Systems:
The Inca relied on and worshiped water heavily. A temple was built, the Incamisana, to worship water and the dieties granting them water. The temple, as well as many other buildings constructed by the Inca, incorporated aesthetics, underground water conduits, and hydraulic systems. The Inca understood water was needed for agricultural production (used in terraces) and for domestic purposes. The civil engineers of the time for the Inca were tasked with laying out diversion and canal routes to a designated spot, finding what water source would give the desired flow rate, and what elevation the water source would need to be tapped from for gravity to work effectively.   Tannbonn (talk) 03:08, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
Sanitation was also well known by the Inca. The Inca had their own wastewater treatment systems and it is documented that they would collect the human waste to perform land application to help ensure successful harvest seasons. Tannbonn (talk) 16:31, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Peer Review by Sjwkcc (talk) 16:54, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

The sources in your Sandbox are great! They should yield some great evidence for all the research and additions that will be done, and the work that has already been done looks fantastic! Keep it up! If you need any help finding any ideas for sections, I would recommend Society as a starting point. Even saying that there is not enough information on a certain aspect of society, if a scholar states so, is useful information.
As always, with some of these articles we are working on, some statements are not cited at all, and some things that are cited have outdated links. That would be the most basic thing that could be done for improvement, starting with the introduction section since it has no sources. There are a few spots that could use links to other articles, I find that a link to Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas is useful in most, if not all, articles on Mesoamerica topics.
I would say the most important things that could be done for the article would be citations in the introduction to the article, fixing old/broken sources, and expanding the very small sections (like Politics) if possible. The yellow exclamation point above the introduction section also mentions the vague phrasing of some sections, which could be helpful.
Overall, great work!

Notes on the Inca

Road Sources:

Peer Editing rpw6t3 16:50, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

1.What does the article do well? Is there anything from your review that impressed you? Any turn of phrase that described the subject in a clear way?

2. What changes would you suggest the author apply to the articles? Why would these changes by an improvement?

3. What’s the most important thing the author could do to improve the article?

4. Did you notice anything about the article that you reviewed that could be applicable to your own article? Let them know!

Population:

1.Good use of statistics (population) and tying that back to the quipus

2. You could expand a little on the quipus by explaining that it is a system of knots that was sort of a counting system. Also mentioning that they didn’t have a written language might clarify why the quipus was used

3. See #2

4. NA

Marriage:

1. Good section structure, the order of the information makes sense when reading through. I like how you talked a little about the role of women in society vs the role of men - adds another perspective on Inca marriage.

2. Citations; I would consider rewording the phrase “if he did not think it would work out” because it seems a little causal compared to the tone of the rest of the article.

3. Consistency in tone of section

4. NA

Arts:

1.I really enjoyed reading the section on ceramics and metalwork. It was well written and descriptive of the construction and use of the objects. This is a well rounded section that doesn’t strictly focus on one aspect of ceramics and metalwork.

2. I suggest reading the article aloud to look for redundancies in wording. In some paragraphs, towards the end, the sentences start to repeat their meaning. Finding these sentences and combining the ideas will help make this section a little more condensed. Also add some more citations throughout.

3. Citations and watching out for redundancies of ideas in paragraphs. Include some more transition sentences from paragraph to paragraph within a section

4. NA

Water System Sources: 

Wright, Kenneth R, et al. Incamisana : Engineering an Inca Water Temple, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.libproxy.mst.edu/lib/umr-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4534226.

http://ascelibrary.org.libproxy.mst.edu/doi/abs/10.1061/9780784479162.001

Political Sources:

https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.mst.edu/lib/umr-ebooks/detail.action?docID=843228

Religion Sources:

[Reinhard, Johan and Constanza Ceruti. "Sacred Mountains, Ceremonial Sites, and Human Sacrifice among the Incas." Archaeoastronomy, vol. 19, June 2005, pp. 1-43. EBSCOhost, libproxy.mst.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=22773113&site=ehost-live.]

Kmmy47 (talk) 16:44, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Notes

K8shep (talk) 14:51, 13 October 2017 (UTC)