• snooggums@midwest.social
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    3 months ago

    The ‘age of 38’ thing isn’t even due to infection ir disease, or even a thing at all. 38 was the average between the high number of infant deaths and the normal lifespan of someone who didn’t.

    Ok, women giving birth skewed it a bit too. Men didn’t die in battle as much as people think, since most battles were decided when a small portion of the losing side died and the rest fled.

    • MBM@lemmings.world
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      3 months ago

      Do we have numbers for the hunter-gatherer time that can even be skewed by infant deaths?

      Edit: as it turns out, yes, absolutely. Wikipedia says the lifespan is around 21-37 years but 57% died before 15 and 64% of those that don’t would also reach 45.