Final answer:
Rivers played a crucial role in enabling crop cultivation around 10,000 years ago. They provided nutrient-rich soil through annual flooding, and civilization in Mesopotamia developed irrigation systems to ensure a continuous water supply for crops.
Step-by-step explanation:
Around 10,000 years ago, the cultivation of crops was made possible by the use of rivers. The rivers, such as the Nile in North Africa and the Tigris and Euphrates in the Middle East, flooded annually and deposited nutrient-rich soil on the farmlands.
This helped farmers achieve successful crop yields year after year. Additionally, farmers in Mesopotamia developed irrigation systems to control water flow and continuously water their crops, further enhancing the agricultural practices.