ABSTRACT
The three case studies which have been included focus upon dimensions of the archaeology of traditional religions and Islam in West Africa. They have been chosen as they allow a consideration of past and contemporary approaches to the archaeological study of religion in West Africa, and also an evaluation of various critical elements of much greater general relevance, both methodological and theoretical, which need to be included within an evaluation of archaeology and religion. Thus three examples will be integrated: first, a focus upon Yoruba religion, and in turn the role of analogy and the place of emotion; second, an outline of Dogon religion (see Figure 4, p. 90), which also allows an examination of the potential of myth as an aid to research; and, finally, a brief consideration of the relationship between Islam and traditional religions, allied with an assessment of the concepts of ‘collision’, time and syncretism, the latter being a term referring to the processes of religious blending or fusion which can occur.
