It is sometimes said that in interdisciplinary conversation, “iron sharpens iron”. When those trained in different intellectual pursuits meet for serious discussion, the result is often a sharpening of insight with respect to their own particular field, as well as a clearer perception of another. I was asked as a professional theologian to engage with the material in these chapters (and to take part in the symposium that led to them) with an eye to the Templeton Foundation's enquiry into ‘the roots of spirituality’ – the origins of religious belief and practice. The following is offered in the hope that, just as I gained an enormous amount from being plunged into the world of archaeology, those at work in that world might find it useful to consider their findings from the perspective of someone at work in the world of religion and ‘spirituality’.

It is far beyond the scope of a single chapter even to outline the various connections between religion and the material in these fascinating contributions. What I attempt here is something much more modest: to highlight some of the basic issues implied in any enquiry into the ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’ dimensions of human behaviour, not least when the attempt is made to trace the links between archaeological data and religious activity. Especially illuminating in this respect, I am going to suggest, is the concept of ‘worldview’.