A major challenge facing archaeologists is communicating our research to thepublic. Thankfully, new computational tools have enabled the testing andvisualization of complex ideas in an easily packageable format. In this articlewe illustrate not only how agent-based modeling provides a platform forcommunicating complex ideas, but also how these game-like computer models can beexplored and manipulated by members of the public therefore increasing theirengagement in archaeological explanations. We suggest that these new digitaltools serve as an excellent aid for education on the importance ofarchaeological sites and artifacts. To illustrate the above we walk the readerthrough a step-by-step pipeline of how to run an ABM model as an experiment andhow to export it into a form ready to be sent to SHPO and THPO offices in tandemwith reports. Ultimately, we hope that this work will help demystify thecomputational archaeology process and lead to more fluency in using agent-basedmodeling in research and outreach.
