Although it's easy to assume that people tend to disastrously impact environmental health,» says Armstrong, «through studying the archaeological record and working with Indigenous collaborators, we see many examples of
ancient societies that have successfully responded to environmental instability by conscientiously managing their
resources and behaving
in ways that promote resilient and biodiverse habitats.»
Kohler has built computer simulations called agent - based models that take virtual
ancient societies, puts them
in geographically accurate landscapes and generates how they likely responded to changes
in things like precipitation,
resource depletion and population size.