"1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" documents the many superior technologies that "New World" civilizations had over the European invaders:

"1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" documents the many superior technologies that "New World" civilizations had over the European invaders: * Cotton clothing - superior to Wool and Flax clothing that was hot, scratchy * Clean cities - European streets had sewage flowing in the gutters. They were shocked at well developed urban centers with no public sewage issues * Canoes - Lighter, faster, and more agile than European wooden boats * Advanced Agriculture - They invented tomatoes, corn, potatoes and many more varieties that quickly became staple food in Europe (Polenta, Pizza, etc in Italy) and Africa (sweet potatoes) Populations have been chronically under estimated. Various civilizations (Inca, Maya, etc) probably millions of people each, which then had a 95% die off rate when exposed for the first time to European diseases. These spread virally across civilizations to areas where no Europeans had yet visited. Book was written in 2006, so I don't know what the current state of our understanding of the Americas history is.