Marilyn Harris:
> affected the paleolithic if they had actually lived long enough? I
> suspect,
> like wild animals, they lived, on the average, fairly short lives
> (maybe
> 20-30). 

The 30-35 year average lifespans one often sees quoted for the Paleolithic
do not mean that all or even most who reached adulthood died before the age
of 36. Those averages include the many infants that died in childbirth or
soon thereafter. So a Stone Ager who reached the age of 30 probably had good
odds of reaching 50 or 60.

There is a more detailed health/lifespan chart at
http://www.beyondveg.com/nicholson-w/angel-1984/angel-1984-1a.shtml.