[danielhooper]

It's difficult to get a good sense of 'longevity' with life expectancy stats, especially when in this case they only take an average. I can imagine that this group of people does not have modern tools and techniques for child delivery. Obviously that is concerning and worth keeping in the picture, but any higher than usual child mortality rates will really skew the life expectancy stat, making it appear as though people just drop dead in their 40s and 50s.

Edit: I probably don't need to point that out to the typical HN reader, but its something I personally wouldn't have picked up on a few years ago

[defen]

The second link I posted has survival curves. Child mortality is high but not the whole story - lots of people dying at all ages due to infectious diseases.

[keithpeter]

Yes, the intestine parasites don't exactly enthuse one to adopt the lifestyle. A simple clinic with antibiotics could sort a lot of the mortality though.