Archaeologist have dispelled the myth of early death people in the middle Ages
An archaeologist from the Australian national University Christine cave dispelled the myth that before modern medicine most people rarely live up to 50 years.
Cave has developed a new method of determining the age of death in skeletal remains. In the study, the scientist takes into account how worn out the teeth of a person. Archaeologist have studied the remains of people buried in the three Anglo-Saxon cemeteries between 475 and 625 years, and the results showed that these people often lived to a ripe old age.
“People sometimes think that to live in those days to 40 years is a success, but it’s not true. For people who lived a traditional life without modern medicine, the most common age of death was 70 years,” said cave, whose words are given on the website of the Australian national University.
She also explained that the myth about the age of the deceased came from the fact that archaeologists do not have enough methods for the identification of older people.
“Older people in archaeological research are ignored, and the reason for that is the inability to identify them. When you determine the age of the children, pay attention to the points of development, such as the appearance of your teeth or strengthen bones, it all happens at a certain age. However, once they have fully grown, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine their age on skeletal remains, so most studies have a higher age category 40 plus or 45 plus,” explained cave.