Trigger warning, child death

The most flimsy thing in the mesolithic were children. About 26% didn't make it to one year old. 40% probably didn't make it to five years old.

There was a 56% chance they didn't make it to puberty.

Today we think about getting vaccinated against viruses, but viruses were pretty rare. We lived in small groups of no more than about 150 people. The odds of you coming in contact with an outsider were slim to none Because population density was measured in less than tens of people per mile. But if you managed to find one that was infected you were going to have a bad time.

Every little bacterial infection was life-threatening. Bacteria lived everywhere. They were out to get you. They would hide out in meat and on berries. And they were out to get the children.

Half of all children never reached reproductive age. If they did there was always the risk of death from childbirth. Which was a bigger risk than getting trampled by an animal in a hunt.