FW: fourscore...

[sagehen]

>I would think if it's the infant mortality rate that
>brings down the average lifespan, then there would
>probably need to be a fair number of people living
>long lives just to keep the average up in the 30s or
>40s. So, it shouldn't be that surprising.
>
>Ed
 ~~~~~~~~~
The corollary would seem to be that since the infant mortality has dropped
so greatly, the average lifespan "ought" to be even more greatly extended.
If ancient and remote societies  had many examples of people surviving into
their eighth, ninth & tenth decades, it suggests that modern urban
societies must have signigficant life-shortening elements, since we do not
see such huge gains.
A. Murie