That’s because of high infant/childhood mortality rates skewing the average. If you take away anyone who died before age 5, the average age shoots up to like 70+ in most places. Not too different from today.
Yes, I know. The problem is that most people see an average stat and think it‘s a universal law. That goes for life expectancy, height and even GDP per capita among other things. In reality no one is perfectly average and extremes exist everywhere.
That’s because of high infant/childhood mortality rates skewing the average. If you take away anyone who died before age 5, the average age shoots up to like 70+ in most places. Not too different from today.
Yes, I know. The problem is that most people see an average stat and think it‘s a universal law. That goes for life expectancy, height and even GDP per capita among other things. In reality no one is perfectly average and extremes exist everywhere.