In ancient Mesopotamia, prior to 2900 B.C., wheat was cultivated in

In ancient Mesopotamia, prior to 2900 B.C., wheat was cultivated in considerable quantities, but After 2900B.C., production of that grain began to decline as the production of barly increased sharply.Some historians who study ancient Mesopotamia content that the decline in wheat production was due to excessive irrigation, lack of drainage, and the consequent accumulation of salt residues in the soil.

Which one of the following, if true, most help to support the historian's contention concerning the reasons for the decline in wheat production in ancient Mesopotamia?


A. The cultivation of barely requires considerably less water than does the cultivation of wheat.

B. Barly has much greater resistance to the presence of salt in soil than does wheat.

C. Prior to 2900 B.C., barly was cultivated along with wheat, but the amount of barely produced was far less than the amount of wheat blights.

D. Around 2900 B.C., a series of wheat blights occurred, destroying much of the wheat crop year after year.

E. Literary and archaeological evidence indicates that in the period following 2900B.C., barely became the principal grain in the diet of most of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia.