Don Wiss wrote:

> Eliot Martin Glick posted:
>
> > Keep in mind that most
> >of your "paleo-persons" only lived to be 25-35 years old.
>
> Which makes no sense. It takes say 16 years for a human to develop to the
> stage where they can go out on their own and reproduce. If they died at
> 25-35 they'd be lucky if they were able to raise a single child. And with
> the problems of infant mortality we, as a race, would have died out
> long ago.
>
> Of course, the person that wrote that is simply wrong.
>
> Plus that wouldn't be long enough to pass on the hunting and gathering
> knowledge to the next generation.
>
> Don.
>
>
> .
>
First point: average life expectancy is, by definition, an average.
Thus, infant mortality, infection, and serious injury affect the
average. So, just because a lot more people die young doesn't mean that
SOME people don't live to be over 100. That's obvious if you think about
it. Note: there are inner city neighborhoods right here in the good old
USA, in 2005, where 25-35 years is a reasonable life expectancy for
young men. That does not mean that some (Quite a few) people do not live
longer. All it really means is that at least half do not. In fact,
population growth in those communities tends to be higher than in the
population in general despite the much lower life expectency (Think
about that for a minute.)

Second point: human males are fertile as soon as they reach puberty.
They continue to be fertile most of their lives, and one can impregnate
multiple females. Human females are also fertile beginning at puberty,
though their odds of carrying a child to term are greatest in their
early twenties (Which is why men of ANY age are usually most attracted
to women in their early 20's - it's biological. Again, it's obvious if
you think about it.) Despite lower average life expectancy, SOME members
of the group will live long enough to raise the children who survive
(Though many children won't survive... which is why there is a low
average...) That's why... are you ready for it?... "It takes a village
to raise a child."

If you'd like more details on this stuff, pick up any textbook on
Anthropology written in the last thirty years or so. This is the one I
studied:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0072485949/qid=1123548100/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-0773690-2414418?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Thanks,
Adam