Fringe Archaeology

First of all, let's make a list of targets:

• Stonehenge. Stonehenge, although it isn't even the most impressive henge monument in Britain (Avebury is), has caught the imagination of many a new-age traveller, writer, and self-styled investigator. Magic, druids, ley lines and astronomical alignments abound at this Neolithic to Bronze Age ritual centre.
• Noah's Ark. Sighted (and sited) occasionally on Mount Ararat on the Turkish/Russian border, this biblical boat is the object of repeated expeditions led by Americans, and links into fringe geology, fringe biology and, I guess, fringe religion.
• The Pyramids. Any pyramid worth its salt will sharpen your razor; but were they built by aliens, and are they geometrical and numerological wonders? A very good tool for teaching basic maths and geometry.
• Crop circles. Can be legitimate if they are caused by subsurface archaeological features (see: cropmarks, soil marks); more commonly, they are created by aliens (from planet Hoax).
• Dowsing. Common or garden dowsers tend to show up at most archaeological sites. Belief in the possibility (if not probability) that dowsing works is widespread even among professional archaeologists. Still, you're advised not to admit to this if you want to be taken serious...
• The Turin Shroud. This 14th century forgery of Christ's burial cloth, which first turned up in France, is reputed to contain pollen from the ancient Near East. The image of Christ, although it contains various pigments commonly used at the time, is said to be of supernatural origin.
• King Arthur & paraphernalia. Although probably a historic figure, Arthur became the stuff of legend and was buried in lots of different places around the south and west of England.
• Ley Lines. They're everywhere, they connect everything, and they're mysterious (just like telephone lines, really!)
• Vikings and Runes. A deadly combination if ever I saw one.
• Ancient astronauts, Catastrophism, and Atlantis. Here we're getting rather far removed from the fringe - this is the place where everything connects, leading to shorts and black-outs.
• Sundry other interesting links. Not categorised yet.

And finally, as an antidote to all this nonsense, some skeptical annotations, books and films