◐BEFORE THE RECORD
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Ancient History · State by State · Real Discoveries

Before the Record

A looted treasure in Oklahoma. Tools in Texas older than the first Americans. A mummy in Nevada. The oldest human ever found. The discoveries that don't fit the history books — and what they really mean.

The Plains Before
Volume I

The Plains Before

Under the wheat fields and prairies of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa lie cities, bone beds and treasures that were never supposed to survive. The real discoveries — and the questions still open.

144 pages · illustrated
  • Tools in Texas older than the 'first Americans'
  • The lost city of Kansas, found again in 2017
$9.99
The Mountain West Before
Volume II

The Mountain West Before

Stone wheels aligned to the sky, a child whose DNA rewrote the story of the first Americans, a mummy older than the pyramids. The Mountain West is older than anyone thought.

139 pages · illustrated
  • The Montana boy whose DNA rewrote history
  • Nevada's oldest mummy — and a 20-year fight
$17
Best value
The Plains Before
The Mountain West Before
The South Before
The World Before

Before the Record Collection

4 volumes · 569 pages · 4 audiobooks
  • The Plains Before — 144 pages
  • The Mountain West Before — 139 pages
  • The South Before — 145 pages
  • The World Before — 141 pages
$60.99$29.99
You save $31 — 51% off
The South Before
Volume III

The South Before

Caves lived in for ten thousand years, cities of mounds larger than European towns, mummies in Kentucky's caves. The real history of the South before the record began.

145 pages · illustrated
  • A city of mounds the textbooks skip
  • Kentucky's cave mummies
$17
The World Before
Volume IV

The World Before

The oldest Homo sapiens ever found. A temple older than farming. Burials 40,000 years old. The discoveries abroad that forced the history books to start over.

141 pages · illustrated
  • Mungo Man and 40,000 years in Australia
  • A temple built before farming
$17

Four illustrated volumes — 569 pages — each with its complete audiobook. Four volumes: the plains, the mountain West, the South, and the world before the record.
Real archaeology, told like a mystery — every site and find is real.

From the book
“The dry chamber inside Craig Mound preserved woven textiles over 500 years old, a kind of ancient fabric that has almost entirely rotted away at every other major Mississippian site.”
The Plains BeforeThe Mounds That Bled Gold
From the book
“Twenty-eight spokes radiate from the central hub of the Bighorn Medicine Wheel — the same number as the days in a lunar month, though whether that echo was intended or accidental remains unknown.”
The Mountain West BeforeThe Wheel on the Peak
From the book
“Beneath the floor of a single Alabama rock shelter lies a nearly continuous record of human life stretching back close to ten thousand years — a calendar written in ash, bone and stone.”
The South BeforeThe Fire in the Hollow
See what’s inside →
Instant download · PDF + audiobook · yours forever
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4Volumes
569Pages
0Hours of audio
40Chapters
Part I

History started earlier than you were told. The ground remembers.

Almost every state has one: a field, a cave, a bluff or a mine where something was found that didn't fit. Most people drive past these places every day without knowing what came out of the ground there.

These books tell those stories: the discoveries, the people who found them, the fights about what they mean, and the peoples who lived there long before the record began. Everything in them is real.

“Every time we dig deeper, the story starts earlier.”Before the Record

No aliens, no giants, no invented lost civilisations. The real story is stranger — and it is told here like the mystery it is.

Part II

The difference

Most ancient-mystery videos are thirty seconds of music and a wild claim. These books are built the other way round.

The usual version
Before the Record
A wild claim and dramatic music.
The real discovery, the evidence and the debate.
Giants, aliens and invented civilisations.
Real sites, real finds, real scientists.
“Experts are baffled.”
What the experts actually found — and still argue about.
Anonymous comments and hearsay.
Based on published research and museum records.
Only a video — gone when you close the tab.
Illustrated books to keep, plus audiobooks for the car and the evening walk.
Part III · The Volumes

What’s inside the four volumes

Every contents list below is the real table of contents of the finished book. Each volume comes as an illustrated PDF and as a complete audiobook in the same voice.

The Plains Before
Volume I · 144 pages · illustrated

The Plains Before

Under the wheat fields and prairies of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa lie cities, bone beds and treasures that were never supposed to survive. The real discoveries — and the questions still open.

  1. The Mounds That Bled Gold
  2. Before Clovis
  3. The First Americans' Spear
  4. The Point in the Ribs
  5. The Lost City on the Plains
  6. The Waterhole of Bones
  7. Where the Mammoths Fell
  8. Serpents in the Earth
  9. The Lightning on the Skull
  10. What the Plains Still Hide
Illustrated PDF + audiobook · or take all four for $29.99
The Mountain West Before
Volume II · 139 pages · illustrated

The Mountain West Before

Stone wheels aligned to the sky, a child whose DNA rewrote the story of the first Americans, a mummy older than the pyramids. The Mountain West is older than anyone thought.

  1. The Wheel on the Peak
  2. The Layered Hill
  3. The Boy and the Genome
  4. The Cave in the Lava
  5. The Man Who Waited
  6. The Decoys in the Dark
  7. The Floor of Years
  8. The Hunters of Lindenmeier
  9. The Ghosts on the Wall
  10. What the Ground Keeps
Illustrated PDF + audiobook · or take all four for $29.99
The South Before
Volume III · 145 pages · illustrated

The South Before

Caves lived in for ten thousand years, cities of mounds larger than European towns, mummies in Kentucky's caves. The real history of the South before the record began.

  1. The Fire in the Hollow
  2. The City of Mounds
  3. The Walls of Water
  4. The Preserved Dead
  5. The Southern Capitals
  6. The Vanished Mound
  7. The Oldest Floor
  8. The Lords of the River
  9. The Plundered Ground
  10. The Living Descendants
Illustrated PDF + audiobook · or take all four for $29.99
The World Before
Volume IV · 141 pages · illustrated

The World Before

The oldest Homo sapiens ever found. A temple older than farming. Burials 40,000 years old. The discoveries abroad that forced the history books to start over.

  1. The Face Before Us
  2. The Man by the Lake
  3. Under the Shelter
  4. The Last Ocean
  5. The Northern Door
  6. The Oldest Temple
  7. The Ghost Lineage
  8. The First Artists
  9. The Small People
  10. How We Learned to Read Time
Illustrated PDF + audiobook · or take all four for $29.99
Instant download · PDF + audiobook · yours forever
The Complete Archive

Every title we have ever published.

All 24 illustrated books across 3 collections — and every one of them with its complete audiobook: 2 hours of listening.

$660.79$97
Deal ends in 00:00:00
ON SALE85%OFF
Special edition

Before the Record

Four volumes on what lies beneath America — and beyond
4 titles · $60.99
The Plains Before
The Plains Before
144 pages · $9.99
The Mountain West Before
The Mountain West Before
139 pages · $17
The South Before
The South Before
145 pages · $17
The World Before
The World Before
141 pages · $17
Collection

The State Files

One state, one discovery, the whole story
15 titles · $449.85
The Spiro Mounds
The Spiro Mounds
36 pages · $29.99
The Gault Site
The Gault Site
36 pages · $29.99
Etzanoa
Etzanoa
36 pages · $29.99
The Ashfall Fossil Beds
The Ashfall Fossil Beds
35 pages · $29.99
The Effigy Mounds
The Effigy Mounds
36 pages · $29.99
The Bighorn Medicine Wheel
The Bighorn Medicine Wheel
34 pages · $29.99
The Anzick Child
The Anzick Child
34 pages · $29.99
Spirit Cave Man
Spirit Cave Man
35 pages · $29.99
Lovelock Cave
Lovelock Cave
34 pages · $29.99
Russell Cave
Russell Cave
34 pages · $29.99
Moundville
Moundville
36 pages · $29.99
The Old Stone Fort
The Old Stone Fort
34 pages · $29.99
Toltec Mounds
Toltec Mounds
34 pages · $29.99
The Painted Skull
The Painted Skull
34 pages · $29.99
Hell Gap
Hell Gap
35 pages · $29.99
Collection

The World Files

The finds that rewrote history abroad
5 titles · $149.95
Jebel Irhoud
Jebel Irhoud
35 pages · $29.99
Lake Mungo
Lake Mungo
34 pages · $29.99
Wairau Bar
Wairau Bar
36 pages · $29.99
Bluefish Caves
Bluefish Caves
36 pages · $29.99
Göbekli Tepe
Göbekli Tepe
35 pages · $29.99
One payment · instant download · yours forever
Part IV

About Before the Record

Before the Record is a library of illustrated books and audiobooks on the real discoveries that rewrote history — state by state, and around the world — told with the suspense of a mystery and the accuracy of real science.

The rule of these books is simple: only real finds, honest about what is still unknown, and respectful of the Native peoples whose ancestors made this history.

— Before the Record

Part V

Questions

Is this real?

Yes. Every site, find and date comes from published research and official site and museum information. Where scientists still disagree, the books say so.

What exactly do I get?

For every book: an illustrated PDF (it opens on any phone, tablet, computer or e-reader and prints cleanly) and a complete audiobook as an MP3 that plays in any music app. Your download page appears the moment your payment is complete, and we email you the link to keep.

Why only $29.99 for all four?

Because they are digital: no printing, no warehouse, no shipping, no bookstore taking half. Bought separately the four volumes come to $60.99; the collection is priced so that the whole file is the obvious choice. The launch price holds while the counter at the top of this page is running.

Can I buy just one book?

Yes. Every volume stands on its own — The Plains Before at $9.99, and the other volumes at $17 each. The collection simply costs less than buying two of them.

What is the Complete Archive?

Every title we publish — 24 illustrated books across 3 collections — each with its audiobook, for one payment of $97 instead of $660.79.

Do I need to know anything about archaeology?

No. The books are written for curious readers, not experts — like a great documentary you can read or listen to on a road trip.

Is my payment secure?

Payment runs through Stripe, the payment provider used by millions of businesses. We never see your card details. You receive a receipt by email.

The Plains Before
The Mountain West Before
The South Before
The World Before

Find out what was really found.

4 illustrated volumes and 4 audiobooks — $29.99 instead of $60.99.

Instant download · PDF + audiobook · yours forever

Choose your edition

Every book comes as an illustrated PDF + complete audiobook

The Plains Before
Volume I

The Plains Before

Under the wheat fields and prairies of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa lie cities, bone beds and treasures that were never supposed to survive. The real discoveries — and the questions still open.

144 pages · illustrated
  • Tools in Texas older than the 'first Americans'
  • The lost city of Kansas, found again in 2017
$9.99
The Mountain West Before
Volume II

The Mountain West Before

Stone wheels aligned to the sky, a child whose DNA rewrote the story of the first Americans, a mummy older than the pyramids. The Mountain West is older than anyone thought.

139 pages · illustrated
  • The Montana boy whose DNA rewrote history
  • Nevada's oldest mummy — and a 20-year fight
$17
Best value
The Plains Before
The Mountain West Before
The South Before
The World Before

Before the Record Collection

4 volumes · 569 pages · 4 audiobooks
  • The Plains Before — 144 pages
  • The Mountain West Before — 139 pages
  • The South Before — 145 pages
  • The World Before — 141 pages
$60.99$29.99
You save $31 — 51% off
The South Before
Volume III

The South Before

Caves lived in for ten thousand years, cities of mounds larger than European towns, mummies in Kentucky's caves. The real history of the South before the record began.

145 pages · illustrated
  • A city of mounds the textbooks skip
  • Kentucky's cave mummies
$17
The World Before
Volume IV

The World Before

The oldest Homo sapiens ever found. A temple older than farming. Burials 40,000 years old. The discoveries abroad that forced the history books to start over.

141 pages · illustrated
  • Mungo Man and 40,000 years in Australia
  • A temple built before farming
$17
Before you go

Take the whole file with you

The Plains Before
The Mountain West Before
The South Before
The World Before

All 4 volumes + 4 audiobooks — 569 pages, 0 hours of listening.

$60.99$29.99
You save $31
From the collection
Complete Archive · 85% off
All 24 books + audiobooks
$660.79 $97
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