http://talaya.net/chronicles/ancient-mortality-and-cancer/ Notes for a new book by George Johnson Tue, 28 May 2013 00:10:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://talaya.net/chronicles/ancient-mortality-and-cancer/#comment-22 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:07:33 +0000 http://talaya.net/chronicles/?p=119#comment-22 Suits my prejudices. Obviously there is selection bias, but that’s what we’re looking for, right? If you’re trying to figure out how long a person might live under optimal conditions, then people prominent enough to be listed in the Oxford Classical Dictionary constitute a good sample. Data on peasants might be more representative (and obviously this is important for speculation about age-related cancer incidence in the ancient world), but I don’t see that there’s a big difference from being murdered and being worked to death.

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