Mike Dilger wrote:

>
> Skeletal remains show that most paleolithic people died quite young.
> Life was hard back then.  There was no neosporin, no penicillin.  One of
> the reigning theories is that most death came from infections, for which
> we have great cures today (thanks to the magic of science, medicine, and
> capitalism) and today our hygiene is much better, and yes, at some
> measurable expense such as perhaps many allergies, stomach upset
> (imbalance in intestinal flora), etc.

More recent research (sorry I don't have a link) has showed that earlier
researchers seriously underestimated the age of paleo people at death
because
they didn't have the "normal" marks of degeneration of modern elderly
people.
Thus, they assumed the skeletons were all of young people in their 20s.

Infectious disease is far more of a problem in a city environment,
particularly
before modern sanitation.  So neolithic but not modern would have the worst
exposure, and life expectancies show that more than half of the children
born
died in infancy.  Paleolithic peoples in small groups in clean
surroundings would
have much less risk of infection, particularly the diarrheal diseases.

In the lifetime of many reading this list, we may have the opportunity
to experience
life without antibiotics; misuse of antibiotics is causing the growth of
more and
more antibiotic-resistant disease (particularly the habit of feeding
antibiotics to
meat animals to enhance growth).  People seem so poor at seeing even the
immediate consequences of their behavior!

    Lynnet

>
>
> I like to take a balanced approach.  I try to learn what is best from
> the ancient world, and what is best from the modern world, and then take
> the best of both, instead of believing that one is completely wrong and
> the other completely right.
>
> -Mike
>
> sean mcbride wrote:
>
>>  Die at 22 like they all did.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> This is common thinking but pretty suspect.  I was reading a book the
>> other
>> day about a bunch of early "natural" food people from the turn of the
>> 19th/20th century.  I also read that average life expectancy then was
>> about
>> 30.  The book listed the birth and death date for everyone who was
>> mentioned.  Most of them were living from 60-80 years with a few to
>> their
>> 90's.  So much for average life expectancy.  Were these people
>> particularly
>> special - no.  If you read roman, or Islamic history that mentions
>> ages it
>> is not unusual for people to be in their 80's and beyond.
>>
>> sean
>>
>>
>
>