The native wild grasses in this region were densely growing, highly productive species, especially the varieties of wild wheat and barley. Conditions in the north may have been more favourable because the soil was more fertile and the rainfall was high enough for agriculture without irrigation, but the scale of rivers in the south and the flat plains which made it easy to cut irrigation channels and put large areas under cultivation gave advantages to the development of irrigated farms which were productive but required constant labour. The societies of ancient Mesopotamia developed one of the most prosperous agricultural systems of the ancient world, under harsh constraints: rivers whose patterns had little relation to the growth cycle of domesticated cereals a hot, dry climate with brutal interannual variations and generally thin and saline soil. Palm orchard in the lower Euphrates valley. Topography The Tigris flowing through the region of modern Mosul in Upper Mesopotamia. Scholars believe that wild cereal grasses probably spread with the forest cover, out from the glacial refugia westward into the Zagros. Northwest Syria, dominated in ancient times by deciduous oak, is thought to have been less arid between 10,000 BCE and 7000 BCE than it is today. During the glacial period, it is thought that lower temperatures or higher aridity resulted in sparse or non-existent forest cover similar to steppe type terrain in the area of the Zagros Mountains and varying forest cover in the territories of modern-day Turkey and Syria. While developing models to describe the early development of settled agriculture in the Near East, reconstructions of climate and vegetation are a subject of consideration. The agriculture of Northern or Upper Mesopotamia, the land that would eventually become Assyria, had enough rainfall to allow dry agriculture most of the time so that irrigation and large institutional estates were less important, but the returns were also usually lower. The agriculture of southern or Lower Mesopotamia, the land of Sumer and Akkad, which later became Babylonia received almost no rain and required large scale irrigation works which were supervised by temple estates, but could produce high returns. In reality, there were two types of Mesopotamian agriculture, corresponding to the two main ecological domains, which largely overlapped with cultural distinctions. They focused above all on the cultivation of cereals (particularly barley) and sheep farming, but also farmed legumes, as well as date palms in the south and grapes in the north. Operating under harsh constraints, notably the arid climate, the Mesopotamian farmers developed effective strategies that enabled them to support the development of the first states, the first cities, and then the first known empires, under the supervision of the institutions which dominated the economy: the royal and provincial palaces, the temples, and the domains of the elites. I mean one thing that's been abundantly clear to us since we came here a few days ago is that this is a very tight-knit community," said Rodd.Agriculture is the ratio main economic activity in ancient Mesopotamia. There's a real unexpectedness about it in terms of the region that it happened in. The Discovery Channel is not the only media outlet that has chronicled the homicide on national television, as the case was also profiled on Dateline NBC last year. "They've allowed us into their lives and into their homes and we feel very privileged that they've allowed us that kind of access and they've opened up about a very difficult time in their lives," said Delmonte. The crew also interviewed key figures in the case including Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace, and Keith's brother, Kevin Reed. Everyone's been kind of fully on board," said Lydia Delmonte, Arrow Media Assistant Producer. "We've been really lucky with the access for this program. "In this particular instance, the surveillance that was pulled from Clymer Central School was basically the thing that broke the case," said Rodd. The show highlights how investigators caught up with Taglianetti after seeing him on tape. The episode centers around the 2012 murder of Clymer superintendent Keith Reed, and the man convicted of killing him Robert Taglianetti. "It's been an absolute pleasure and delight to be here for a few days, maybe not in terms of the subject matter we've been dealing with," said Rodd. The crew was filming an episode of a 13-part series called "See No Evil" on the Discovery ID Channel. "The world's a small place these days and we've been tracking cases right across the states," said Owen Rodd, Program Director. A production crew from Arrow Media International in London wrapped up its four-day shoot in Chautauqua County on Thursday.
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