Archaeologist Johan Normark fights back against cranks

[quintaine]

quintaine - you seem to be missing the point
an archaeologist will by nature try to understand the history of a propounded theory and test a new evidences and models against that theory - in a kind of scientific way. sometimes an archaeologist will be at odds with a prevailing orthodoxy and this can be both interesting and stimulating.
a crank will propound a theory that dismisses prevailing models without domonstrating an understanding of accepted orthodoxy and this is worthless crap
one day a crank will get lucky and get something right but mostly we will laugh at them and tell them not to waste our time

First off, I am not a proponant of "pseudo archaeology" I would just like to see each method tackled on its own merits or lack of them and I am more than a little concerned that the boundaries of "pseudo archaeology" seems to be encroaching into other areas that were accepted up to now but because of their association with the druid cult are lumped together.

To answer your point re the differences between archaeology and pseudo archaeology, do you think there is an archaeologist out there in the commercial sector who, at one point or another, was not "urged" to dress a theory with appropriate finds (or lack of them) by the company that employed them? It's much the same in the academic world with pressure to get results, just look at Prof. Shinichi Fujimura formerly of Sendai University. The differences are not as great as one might think. It's not just a matter of black and white.