Brion,
Thanks for explaining the page lifecycle. I have clipped this diagram for reference.
Here's a diagram of what exists in what tables
over the lifetime of such
an event:
Page creation:
rev A -> cur
Later edit:
rev B -> cur
rev A -> old
Deletion
rev B -> archive (hidden)
rev A -> archive (hidden)
New creation with same title:
rev C -> cur
rev B -- archive (hidden)
rev A -- archive (hidden)
Later edit:
rev D -> cur
rev C -> old
rev B -- archive (hidden)
rev A -- archive (hidden)
Restoration of deleted revisions:
rev D -- cur
rev C -- old
rev B -> old
rev A -> old
Gratefully,
Ed Poor