alternatehistory.com

In 1751 in Sweden, most people were already dying at around 70 years old. Gurven and Kaplan published a study claiming that people in hunter-gatherer societies today live to their 70s, but I find it hard to believe that such people lived that long in previous centuries. In premodern times, people who lived in luxury, such as upper and middle class people like kings, monks, popes, philosophers, etc. could expect to reach 60 (and some lived to 80!). But data indicates that commoners, however, could only expect to reach 51-54 years if they survived childhood. Was the 1600s when living to 60 or 70 became the norm for the common people?
Top