Is it true that life expectency for Cro Magnon man was around 20 years old?

Question

If so (or not), how do we know? Please provide source..

Answer 1

I visited the oldest Cro-Magnon cave in Europe, just outside of Prague, dating to 40,000 years ago, which is now a museum. The translations into English stated that most Cro-Magnon individuals did not live past age 30...45 would be exceptionally old!

Their causes of death, were usually exposure, infections from wounds incurred while hunting and broken bones. Typically, women would start giving birth shortly after menstruation, and would be fairly worn-out after delivering 10-20 children, without the benfits of birth control!

Answer 2

You would have to understand that times were hard back then.  Very strenuous on a persons body shortening the life expectancy.  That and there were a lot more hazards out that their are now.

Answer 3

probably... life expectancy of an American before 1945 was 43 years old.....

Answer 4

Life expectancy (number) is computed by taking a population and determining the average age at death. In primitive (no medical, no sanitation) societies, there's a huge infant mortality. This creates a lower life expectancy.(number)

Put it this way. The average Cro Magnon life expectancy was about age 30. Most of the deaths before age 30 were of babies and young children. There were enough people that lived past 30 to to make the average life expectancy 30 years

Cro Magnon had a huge infant mortality. However, one past that,  your life expediency went up.Plus "around 30,000 years ago there was a sharp rise in the number of people who were over 30 years old.  They were living significantly longer on average"

http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo...

Most life expectancy numbers I found for Cro Magnon average 30 years old. However, that's really a guesstimate based on studies of the few remains we've found and examined. "Cro Magnon" refers to a culture, not a species. The people given the term were modern humans. That means they had the same potential life spans as humans today.

As the culture had more organization and cooperation older people could be supported. They became important as teachers and care givers for the children.

Answer 5

That actually isn't true. Cro Magnon man had a diet comprised primarily of fish which would have given him large amounts of Omega-3. This probably would have increased life expectancy. Also remember that the fossils that are usually found died of disease and most likely would not have contributed to the genetic chain. As man began to farm and put up permanent settlements diseases from animal and human f***s would have caused a partial drop in life expectancy. Also remember that there are "primative" tribes that when allowed to follow their traditonal ways of nomadic or semi-nomadic travel will have individuals within the tribe that can live up to seventy years old.

Answer 6

I don't have a source, but I wouldn't be surprised. Humans themselves used to only have a life expectancy of around 30 years before technology/general quality of life rose to what it is now.