New ABM handbook out!
NAS²A members Iza Romanowska and Stephani Crabtree, together with Colin Wren, have just published a new handbook on ABM for archaeologists.
Agent-Based Modeling for Archaeology: Simulating the Complexity of Societies is out via the Santa Fe Institute Press and can be downloaded in its entirety here.
From the start, the book takes a hands-on approach to teaching the basics - and later on, the finesses - of ABM in an archaeological context.
The programming language used throughout is NetLogo, but the concepts conveyed are applicable to any alternative of your choosing.
Each chapter is accompanied by a dedicated repository on GitHub, so anyone interested can learn at their own pace.
Congratulations to the authors on their publication and may the synergy between ABM and archaeology thrive and survive! And trade and move around on a GIS map and…
In case you want to jump right into the action: the Young & Bettinger model presented in chapter one and coded here is an excellent first introduction and will definitely whet your appetite.
by Stef Boogers
