This volume explores the relationship between symbolism, spirituality, and humanity in the prehistoric societies of Europe and traditional societies elsewhere.

1. Introduction Colin Renfrew; 2. Prologue: the emergence of symbolic thought: the principal steps of hominisation leading towards greater complexity Henry de Lumley; Part I. African Origins, European Beginnings and World Prehistory: 3. The origins of symbolism, spirituality & shamans? Exploring Middle Stone Age material culture in South Africa Christopher Henshilwood; 4. Neanderthal symbolic behaviour? Jane Renfrew; 5. Identifying ancient religious thought and iconography: problems of definition, preservation and interpretation Paul Taçon; 6. Situating the creative explosion: universal or local? Colin Renfrew; Part II. Approaches to 'Art and Religion': 7. The roots of art and religion in ancient material culture Merlin Donald; 8. The archaeology of early religious practices: a plea for a hypothesis-testing approach Francesco d'Errico; 9. Out of the mind: material culture and the supernatural Steven Mithen; 10. Of people and pictures: the nexus of Upper Palaeolithic religion, social discrimination and art David Lewis-Williams; 11. Music and ritual - parallels and practice, and the Upper Palaeolithic Iain Morley; Part III. The European Experience: 12. Materiality and meaning-making in the understanding of the Palaeolithic 'arts' Margaret Conkey; 13. Sticking bones into cracks in the Upper Palaeolithic Jean Clottes; 14. Cognition and climate: why is Upper Palaeolithic cave art almost confined to the Franco-Cantabrian region? Paul Mellars; Part IV. Reflections on the Origins of Spirituality: 15. Interdisciplinary perspectives on human origins and religious awareness Wentzel Van Huyssteen; 16. Innovation in material and spiritual culture: exploring conjectured relationships Keith Ward.