Ageing and life expectancy in the early Middle Ages

Due to the unreliability of the macromorphological estimation of the age at death of human skeletal finds of higher individual ages, the social group of elder and old persons in prehistoric anthropology has obtained a rather low degree of attention so far. Therefore, a decreased life expectancy in historical periods in comparison with the modern situation is generally anticipated. Based on the special esteem for old persons living today in preindustrial populations, this anticipation has to be revised. When examining the early medieval skeletal series of Wenigumstadt (district Aschaffenburg) by means of the cementum annulation technique, a method which permits a much more precise determination of age at death, comparison was made between the <<morphological>> and <<histological>> age structure of the population. It proves that the portion of late mature individuals of the population was over-estimated morphologically, whereas that of the senile individuals was considerably underestimated. The effectively higher number of aged individuals leads to changes of essential parameters in the life table. Moreover, a much more detailed calculation of the sex specific life table is possible by the more exact determination of age at death. In comparison with contemporary skeletal series a relationship between life expectancy and the proportion of women in a population comes about. The social role of aged and highly aged persons in the early Middle Ages as well as the possible life-prolonging parameters are discussed.