Understanding Imperiled Earth

About Understanding Imperiled Earth

A unique introduction to how understanding archaeology can support modern-day sustainability efforts, from restoring forested land to developing fire management strategies

An essential and hopeful book for climate-conscious readers

The world faces an uncertain future with the rise of climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, overfishing, and other threats. Understanding Imperiled Earth meets this uncertainty head-on, presenting archaeology and history as critical guides to addressing the modern environmental crisis.

Anthropologist Todd J. Braje draws connections between deep history and today’s hot-button environmental news stories to reveal how the study of the ancient past can help build a more sustainable future. The book covers a diverse array of interconnected issues, including: 

• how modern humans have altered the natural world 
• conservation work of Indigenous communities
• extinction of megafauna like dire wolves and woolly rhinoceros
• the risk of deforestation highlighted by Notre Dame’s destruction
• the extinction crisis reflected by endangered bird species in Hawai’i
• fish scarcity driving demand and price, like the single blue-fin tuna fish that sold for three million dollars
• importance of “action archaeology”