Understanding Imperiled Earth: How Archaeology and Human History Can Inform Our Planet’s Future

By Todd Braje, PhD ’07 (anthropology), executive director, Museum of Natural and Cultural History

March 5, 2024

Understanding Imperiled Earth: How Archaeology and Human History Inform a Sustainable Future

Understanding Imperiled Earth is a unique introduction to how understanding archaeology can support modern-day sustainability efforts, from restoring forested land to developing fire management strategies. 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 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.

Smithsonian Books, 2024