History Summarized in a Few Depressing Statements

[bhikkhu]

26. There's been plenty of argument over that

There's no argument that in prehistoric time it was perfectly possible for people to live well into old age, as happens now. Most of the best studies are still inconclusive, but some very good local studies support the 30-40 year average. Just from memory, there was a study I read of the pre-columbians in the valley of mexico, based on a burial ground survey, which found remains of adults averaged 30-40 years old. Other similar small-scope surveys in Europe, from Roman times up into the late middle ages find the same pattern. Before that, its anyone's guess, as records and solid evidence doesn't really exist.

But, assuming that for most of human history we lived as hunter-gathers, another method is to look at modern hunter-gatherer populations still living more or less traditional lifestyles. A very high infant mortality exists, but lifespan of those that survive childhood is more comparable to our own, 60's and 70's. It may be fair to say that lifespans were reasonable for most of human history, but dropped notably following the adoption of agriculture, and then have steadily risen in the past 200 years with technological advancement.