| Title | Think Everyone Died Young in Ancient Societies? Think Again | |
| Date | Tuesday July 17 2018, @11:02PM | |
| Author | Fnord666 | |
| Topic | ||
| from the it's-not-logan's-run dept. | ||
People in the past were not all dead by 30. Ancient documents confirm this. In the 24th century BCE, the Egyptian Vizier Ptahhotep wrote verses about the disintegrations of old age. The ancient Greeks classed old age among the divine curses, and their tombstones attest to survival well past 80 years. Ancient artworks and figurines also depict elderly people: stooped, flabby, wrinkled.
This is not the only type of evidence, however. Studies on extant traditional people who live far away from modern medicines and markets, such as Tanzania's Hadza or Brazil's Xilixana Yanomami, have demonstrated that the most likely age at death is far higher than most people assume: it's about 70 years old. One study found that although there are differences in rates of death in various populations and periods, especially with regards to violence, there is a remarkable similarity between the mortality profiles of various traditional peoples.
High infant mortality and inaccuracy at the other end of the age range skew the numbers.
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printed from SoylentNews, Think Everyone Died Young in Ancient Societies? Think Again on 2024-04-19 12:53:05