Thread by @badgers_no

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri This is true for the early pre pottery Neolithic, but not for iron and bronze age civilizations. from what I can tell data about ancient Egypt seems to come from a single study that I cant find, whit a sample of about 270 bodies.

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri In ancient Greece and Rome, the age average lifespan of those who survived past 5 was about 71, staying generally consisted in pre modern western times(not including plagues famines and great wars.) It would be fair to lower that to 60+ due to selection bias toward the free men.

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri These cultures most definitely didn't consider 30 old. You had to by 35 to be a consul. Men over 18 and younger than 60 were counted as fighting men in Athens, correlating the 71 average lifespan. Similar averages can be found throughout Europe and the near east.

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri I don't understand why Egypt would be such an outlier. Sickness? Malaria? I don't think this could be attributed to manual labor. Egypt was always a land of abundant agricultural produce, with one of the highest living standers was wages. Navigable rivers, flat roads.

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri My theory is that there was a study with an anomalous sample size, and the finding are being peddled through the internet as truth, although malaria is a viable option.

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri The idea that hot humid climates lower life expectancy and general quality of life is interesting. The flooding of the Nile could bring about waves of malaria, together with various other factors.

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri I was totally guessing based on Brazilian and roman history when I wrote that, did a quick google. Apparently malaria might be the answer. Totally changes my perspective on ancient Egypt. nbcnews.com/id/wbna27345796

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri "Scientists identified evidence of malaria in two mummies (...) providing the earliest evidence of the disease. Earlier research found disease was rampant among the upper-class Egyptians buried at the necropolis at Thebes, and most people died between the ages of 20 and 30"

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri I guess I found were that number came from. I still think the number is wrong, but the hot humid climate and the Nile flooding explains a lot. They all prob died in an outbreak and that is why the number is so weird. Changes my entire perception of Egypt. Rampant disease

@BrainiacLabsLLC @sovietsoleri @UnrollHelper