At the most basic level, humans need which of the following to establish a successful inhabitable settlement. a. arable land b. cooler climates c. mineral resources d. transportation technology

The correct answer is - A. arable land.

On a basic level, the establishment of human settlements is directly connected on the arable land. The reason for this is that the arable land is a land that will enable the people to produce high amount of food. The high amount of food means stability of the food sources, thus no need for hunting and gathering, so a permanent settlement can be established.

That is the primary reason why all of the early civilizations have developed around the banks of the big rivers, because the rivers provided the surrounding area with highly fertile deposits, which made the land suitable for large scale production of food.