Anthropology

life spans than Homo Sapiens, around 40 years, as compared to at least 20, maybe 30 years longer for homo sapiens. Which means that their oldest members could only remember back a whole lot less long than the oldest homo sapiens could remember.

One problem with looking at average life spans is that it includes all those who died very young. Sad, but once a homo sapien made it past age 10, they stood a good chance of making it to age 40. And those who made it that far, were quite likely to make it to age 70. With Neanderthals, the older ranges were simply less likely.

Certainly, in our species, the very old, those who live to 80 or 90 or even longer, are always there, rare as they are. And those very old people are an incredible resource.

Heck, as someone who is 74 years old, I realize that my memories of 50 and more years ago are important. Well, ok, those memories won't change anything, but they are there, and I share them when I can.