In the middle of the figures, five horizontal lifelines are shown in "earlier times". The life span on earth varies greatly: 1 day, 18 years, 60 years, etc., the "average" being around 30 years. Beneath, we see five lifelines in our day. The life spans are or of relatively similar length, the average being about 75 years.

An even bigger difference between "earlier times" and "today" is, however, that for most (?) of our ancestors, the earthly life span was only a minor part of the total life span. The belief in resurrection and an eternal life was very probably more widespread than in our day. Our life expectancy has thus not increased during the past centuries. On the contrary, it has decreased infinitely. Important for our ancestors was to make use of the few years given them on earth to prepare well for eternity, in the first place to learn how to die in a way that would please God. This Ars moriendi could be learned.

This figure combines two different perspectives. Everyone should decide for him- or herself if he or she can agree.

Source: CD-ROM Historical Demography (1995), Fig. 66.

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