The Time Traders

Imagine a tough kid named Ross who gets in trouble a lot and is picked for a super-secret job: traveling back to super old times, like when people lived in caves and used stone tools, to trade shiny stuff with weird strangers who turn out to be aliens pretending to be ancient traders. He learns to act like a hairy caveman with his new friends, fights bad guys from another country doing the same sneaky thing, and discovers cool future-tech hidden in the past. It's like a spy adventure through time where they race to grab magic tools before anyone else!

In Andre Norton's 'The Time Traders' (1958), set against the backdrop of Cold War paranoia, protagonist Ross Murdock, a cynical young drifter with a criminal record, is coerced into joining a top-secret U.S. government project. This initiative involves time travel to the late Neolithic/Bronze Age period around 2500 BC in Northern Europe, where American agents pose as traders to uncover advanced technologies left by mysterious prehistoric visitors—later revealed as extraterrestrials. Rigorous training transforms Ross and his team, including archaeologist Gordon Ashe, into bearded 'barbarians' fluent in ancient dialects, as they compete covertly against Soviet operatives pursuing the same enigmatic artifacts. Once hurled through the time gate into a harsh Ice Age landscape, the Americans infiltrate the 'Bald Leopard' trader culture, reverse-engineering sophisticated metalworking and seafaring tech that defies earthly origins. Tensions escalate with betrayals, brutal survival challenges, and chases across frozen tundras and stormy seas, culminating in a high-stakes revelation of alien influence on human history. Norton's narrative masterfully blends espionage thriller elements with hard sci-fi speculation, exploring humanity's precarious grasp on superior alien legacies amid ideological rivalry.