Agent-based modeling for archaeology can simulate the complexity of societies

The more we learn about the past, the more we come to understand that ancient societies share some striking similarities to our own. From the first waves of migration out of Africa to the Ancestral Pueblo, the peoples of the past created art, migrated to new lands, fought wars, raised families, and exploited natural resources for housing, food, and tools—just like we do. With the help of a powerful computational tool called agent-based modeling, archaeologists can discover new frontiers of knowledge that help us better understand not only the past but also today's world, a new book from SFI Press suggests.