alt Hacker NewsHunter-gatherers didn't have birth control; if you have 5 kids and half of them die, you've still maintained your population.
Hunter-gatherers didn't have birth control; if you have 5 kids and half of them die, you've still maintained your population.
But as the parent comment suggests, if the adults were getting sick it is unlikely that they would be able to:
* Produce 5 kids in the first place.
* Take care of the kids that they were able to produce, making survival of even half them much less likely.
But in actuality, best we are able to determine hunter-gathers who made it into adulthood lived longer, healthier lives than those in agrarian lifestyles.