<<
 May one of the reasons for early death have been lack of the necessary
 teeth to process food and in the later  European Palaeolithic at
 least,skins and sinews.  Worn down and uncared for teeth would also be
 liable to form abscesses which, I presume could be fatal.

 The teeth of people living on grain processed with rough stone querns
 would also be very worn it would seem,are there any statistics on this
 available?

 Would better tooth care since the 1920's be a factor in the present day
 longer life in the present day North American population.
>>

My OPINION only, based on study, research & practice in this area since 1965:

Teeth of our ancestors lasted as long as they were needed 'til the
introduction of cooked food & the toxins produced by that pyrolyzinf
process.
  Rampant dental diseas apparently did not appear 'til the time sucrose
sugar was processed out of former foods & made cheaply available to the
population. These conclusions probably come mostly from the studies of
Weston Price, DDS in the 20-30's & the writings of Guy Claude Burger in the
last 15 years out of France.

Hope that's helpful,

Robert E. Wynman, DDS, FAGD