This is a bit of a myth. Very high childhood and teen mortality brought average lifespan down, but once you were 20 making it to 65 was not rare at all. In places like America where plenty of good food was affordable old age was fairly common. Take a walk through an old cemetery and see for yourself.
i have to swim over an ocean to do that, but i do think that for a long time after the transformation from hunter/gatherering to farming a lifespan of 65 was quite rare.and a leap from hunter/gathering to industrialization is a lot to ask(:
if their chances of being 65 had been that great here in europe do you really think they would have taken their chances in those ships(to reach america)?
