Mammoths and Empires - A History of Indigenous Discovery, Civilization, and Adaptation in the Americas

An absorbing, eye-opening narrative that looks through the lens of deep time and invites us rethink human history—and our shared future.

Long before the arrival of Columbus and other Europeans, Indigenous peoples were exploring continents, engineering ecosystems, and building powerful empires across the Americas. In Mammoths and Empire, archaeologist Todd Braje reveals the sweeping, often overlooked story of more than 15,000 years of human history in the Americas—beginning with Ice Age explorers navigating unfamiliar lands filled with mammoths and giant predators, and culminating in the rise of agricultural communities, cities, and empires that rivaled any in the ancient world. This is not a tale of vanished peoples or “primitive” cultures, but a bold re-centering of American history as Indigenous history and a celebration of the enduring traditions of Indigenous peoples.

Blending storytelling with cutting-edge science, Mammoths and Empire reveals how archaeologists study the past and how scientists unearth the stories of deep history. Along the way, Braje dismantles popular myths, confronts pseudoscience, and centers Indigenous knowledge, demonstrating how Native communities actively shaped and stewarded the landscapes, waterways, and environments around them long before European arrival.

More than just history, Mammoths and Empire is a book about American futures. As modern societies face climate change, biodiversity loss, and social instability, the deep history of the Americas offers roadmaps for resilience and sustainability. This book reveals why archaeology matters—not just for understanding where we came from, but for imagining where we might go next.