The average life expectancy, According to historical mortality levels from the Encyclopaedia of Population (2003), states that the average life expectancy for the prehistoric human was estimated to be at just 20 to 35 years of age. However this is misleading information. According to Ancient Origins, an organization dedicated to the reconstruction of the past, published an article on April 24, 2014 titled, “The life expectancy myth, and why many ancient humans lived long healthy lives,” stated that, “The Drawing upon archaeological records, we can indeed see evidence of this.” revealing the study of "Old Man of La Chapelle", a Neanderthal who lived 56,000 years ago, found buried in the limestone bedrock of a small cave near La Chapelle-aux-Saints, in France in 1908. Scientists estimate that he reached an older age by the time he died, as bone had re-grown along the gums where he had lost several teeth. The old man's skeleton indicates that he also suffered from a number of afflictions, including arthritis. If we look again at the estimated maximum life expectancy for prehistoric humans, which is 35 years, we can see that this does not mean that the average person living at this time died at the age of 35. Rather, it means that for every child that died in infancy, another person might have lived to be 70. The life expectancy statistic is, therefore, a deeply flawed way to think about the quality of life of our ancient ancestors. The importance of the life expectancy statistic should be taken with a grain of salt when comparing two cultures approach to the longevity of
The average life expectancy, According to historical mortality levels from the Encyclopaedia of Population (2003), states that the average life expectancy for the prehistoric human was estimated to be at just 20 to 35 years of age. However this is misleading information. According to Ancient Origins, an organization dedicated to the reconstruction of the past, published an article on April 24, 2014 titled, “The life expectancy myth, and why many ancient humans lived long healthy lives,” stated that, “The Drawing upon archaeological records, we can indeed see evidence of this.” revealing the study of "Old Man of La Chapelle", a Neanderthal who lived 56,000 years ago, found buried in the limestone bedrock of a small cave near La Chapelle-aux-Saints, in France in 1908. Scientists estimate that he reached an older age by the time he died, as bone had re-grown along the gums where he had lost several teeth. The old man's skeleton indicates that he also suffered from a number of afflictions, including arthritis. If we look again at the estimated maximum life expectancy for prehistoric humans, which is 35 years, we can see that this does not mean that the average person living at this time died at the age of 35. Rather, it means that for every child that died in infancy, another person might have lived to be 70. The life expectancy statistic is, therefore, a deeply flawed way to think about the quality of life of our ancient ancestors. The importance of the life expectancy statistic should be taken with a grain of salt when comparing two cultures approach to the longevity of