>what they were after, I think the Fertile Crescent would have
>been devoted to cultivation of fields of opium poppies, not
>wheat.

Grain cultivation first started in mountain regions in Caucasus, China
and America, according to something I read on the internet, and I think
there was a link to it here, if not, I found the link in the
Paleodiet archive.
My guess is that grains were the best crop in those areas, and the
grain agriculture then spread all over the world thanks to storage
and portability qualities, and the by that following social reasons
I have mentioned in an earlier post.

- Hans