1 Simulating the Past for Understanding the Present. A Critical Review; 1.1 Introduction to an Introduction; 1.1.1 A "New" Way of Understanding Human History?; 1.1.2 The Past as a Virtual Model; 1.1.3 Testing the Virtual Model; 1.2 Recreating the Past in the Computer; 1.2.1 From Animality to Humanity; 1.2.2 Hunting-and-Gathering in the Past Explains How We Have Survived Until the Present; 1.2.3 Rationality Within the Computer. The Myth of the Stupid Prehistoric Savages; 1.2.4 What Made Humans Really Human? Cooperation and "Collective" Action at the Dawn of Humanity

1.2.5 The Myth of the Good Prehistoric Savage: The Origins of Social Differentiation and Complexity1.2.6 Simulating Economic, Social and Cultural Change in Prehistory. Why Humans Have Made Life so Complex and Difficult; 1.2.7 Why Humans Have Made Life Even More Complex and Difficult. The Making of the State and the Origins of Class Struggle; 1.2.8 Simulating Social Life After Prehistory; 1.2.9 Simulating the Recent Past; 1.3 Predicting the Future; 1.4 Conclusions. Rethinking the Way the Past Can Be Made Understandable; Acknowledgments; References

2 Multi-scale Agent-Based Simulation of Long-Term Dispersal Processes: Towards a Sophisticated Simulation Model of Hominin Dispersal2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Understanding Hominin Dispersal; 2.3 Agent-Based Computer Simulation; 2.3.1 Software Agents; 2.3.2 Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation; 2.4 Modeling Dispersal Processes; 2.5 Environmental Abstraction; 2.6 Challenges for Scaling Agent-Based Modeling; 2.7 Conclusions; References

3 An Agent-Based Model of Resource Distribution on Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies: Clumped Habitats Favor Lower Mobility, but Result in Higher Foraging Returns3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Model Description; 3.2.1 Strategies of Camp Movement; 3.2.2 Alternative Landscapes; 3.3 Analysis; 3.4 Conclusions; Acknowledgments; References; 4 Testing Brantingham's Neutral Model: The Effect of Spatial Clustering on Stone Raw Material Procurement; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Test Case and Model Description; 4.2.1 Mossel Bay Region; 4.2.2 Model Description; 4.3 Model Analysis Results and Discussion

4.3.1 Assuming 5000 Unique Raw Materials4.3.2 Assuming 20 Unique Raw Materials; 4.4 Archaeological Implications and Predictions; Acknowledgments; References; 5 Population Spread and Cultural Transmission in Neolithic Transitions; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Limitations of Fisher's Model; 5.3 Possible Forms of the Cultural Transmission Term; 5.4 Europe; 5.5 Southern Africa; 5.6 Conclusion; Acknowledgment; References; 6 Modelling Routeways in a Landscape of Esker and Bog; 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 The Study Area; 6.2.1 Eskers; 6.2.2 Bogs; 6.2.3 Hills and Landmarks; 6.2.4 The Slighe Mór; 6.3 Methodology