I know that’s it’s established that some of the oldest civilizations started in Anatolia/Mesopotamia. Could it be because the dry climate there preserves old structures better than damp Germany or tropical Southeast Asia?
I recall years ago when they discovered that a 'ziggurat on a hill' was in fact not on a hill, the jungle was just doing an excellent job of burying it.
They had milder weather than Germany to be sure, but I don’t know if you can definitively say they saw less precipitation.