The fringe literature concentrates not on the usual details of archaeology – the potsherds, animal bones and domestic structures – but on unusual and spectacular sites. A favourite is the pyramid, a monument found principally in Egypt and in Mexico, but with examples elsewhere that have been labelled ‘pyramids’, generally by fringe writers. The geometric form of the monument is all that is usually considered, the probable social context of its use is irrelevant. Whilst we may read much about the unusual features of the Great Pyramid at Giza, we almost never hear about the temples, satellite pyramids and mastaba tombs with which it is associated. Likewise, we are rarely given contextual information about Central American pyramids and the functions they performed in the societies that built them. Moreover, the huge gulf in time between Egyptian and American pyramids is usually ignored or, if it is mentioned, suggestions are made that the archaeological dating is somehow wrong. It is often claimed that the Mexican pyramids are actually much older than conventional wisdom would allow.
