What was the life span of early man?

According to historical mortality levels from the Encyclopaedia of Population (2003), average life expectancy for prehistoric humans was estimated at just 20 – 35 years; in Sweden in the 1750s it was 36 years; it hit 48 years by the 1900s in the USA; and in 2007 in Japan, average life expectancy was 83 years. read more

Leaving the Bible aside, hunter gathers traditionally have a life expectancy of 27 years, moving up to 35 years for Neolithic people. This doesn't really mean very much, except that people didn't live long lives. The figures are 'guesstimates' and apply to people with much higher chances of accidental death and injury. read more

Longevity in early modern humans and in Neanderthals was about the same, according to a new study, suggesting that long life was not what helped the population of early modern humans increase. Erik Trinkaus, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis and the study’s author, reported his findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. read more