A stalagmite from Hsārok Cave in the Zagros Mountains of Kurdistan provides a detailed climate record from 18,000 to 7,500 years ago, revealing rainfall fluctuations that correspond with the timing of early agriculture and the rise of civilization in the Fertile Crescent.
Scientists have sequenced a complete genome from ancient Egypt, revealing the man's ancestry was mostly North African with a notable fraction from the Fertile Crescent, supporting a long-suspected cultural link.
