Scientists probe ancient barley to understand the impact of climate on early farming societies Civilisations thrived only when there was proper rain and water was available for irrigation. As rainfall became sporadic, agriculture collapsed and cities were abandoned and, thus, resulted in the demise of some of the great civilizations, suggest recent studies.

Barely six months after archaeologists found that a series of droughts, lasting over 200 years, led to the collapse of Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, a new study offers evidence that the ancient civilisation of Mesopotamia, too, had collapsed due to years of drought resulting from climate change.

The study by German researchers observed that ?influence of climate on agriculture is believed to be a key factor in the rise and fall of societies in the Ancient Near East.? The research team, led by Simone Riehl of the Institute for Archaeological Sciences and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeo environment at T?bingen University, analysed samples of grains of barley up to 12,000 years old.

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