Human Health Throughout History
Alysha LeBrun

For many reasons in which I will explain later on, I believe that the Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer period was the safest and healthiest for human life. Although it is known that archaeologist have suggested that the average lifespan of a Neolithic hunter-gatherer is 25 years, this does not necessarily mean that all died at a young age. Using a small group of people, we are able to find and average by dividing the sum of their ages by the number of people in the group. (PaleoLeap) Due to the high rates of children mortality, these bring down the average tremendously. It is said that if a child is able to live past the age of 15, it was not unlikely for him to live anywhere between 40-70 years old. Statistics show that 25% of the population lived to be 60 years old. (PaleoLeap) With that being said, there are three main reasons why I believe that this time period was not only the healthiest but also the safest. It is said that some scientists believe that modern day humans could learn a thing or two from the Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers diet. (Schaeffer, 2009) Although they had fewer resources, the knowledge they did process allowed them the capability to provide themselves with a well balance diet consisting of lean means, fish, fruits and vegetables that were found on land. Due to the lack of vegetable oil, sugars, and wheats, diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases and other degenerative diseases did not exist. (Schaefer, 2009) Also, the long hard working hours we have come to know were far from the hours any hunter-gatherer would have ever worked. During this time period, hunter-gatherers worked no more then 4 to 5 hours and their work was detected to find and proving food and shelter. (Schaeffer, 2009) Another strong factor that causes many problems in our everyday lives