Funny, but… in point of fact, everyone always uses that “average age” statistic as if it indicated some maximum age for individuals, but that was never the case. The estimated average age, or “life expectancy” of a population, even our own, includes all the expected infant mortality. Obviously, in the days before antibiotics, and such, babies died at an incredible clip; survival to adulthood was almost certainly the exception, and not the rule. But once that hurdle was cleared, these folks lived into their 50s, 60s, and even 70s. The reason we used to believe Neanderthals were hunched over was… Read more »