Is it true that the Hunza people of the Himalayas have an average life expectancy of 120 years?

1916

Exaggerations of the longevity of the Hunza people have exploded because the British General reported that the Hunza people lived to a healthy old age. Some claims are now being made that the Hunzakuts lived 150 to 200 years of age. These claims are pure nonsense. The claim that the people lived to 110 years of age is also false. The thought of a Garden of Eden has many imaginations running wild. The following is a typical example of the myths being propagated wildly... Read more here http://www.biblelife.org/hunza.htm Apr 30 08, 3:34 AM

BRY2K

No, it is not true. It is an extension and adaptation of the Fountain of Youth-narratives that there is a"village of centenarians." In some cases, apparent age heaping showed how unreliable the age claims were: in places like the Hunza Valley, the oldest ages reported often ended in 0 or 5 (140, 135, 130, 125, 120), indicating the age was a guess, not a real measurement. John Clark did not make any mention whatsoever about the Hunza people living to an especially old age. The British general who first visited Hunza in the 1870s said there were old people but gave no indication as to the ages. At that time in history a person beyond 50 years of age was considered to be well beyond the average life expectancy. Many pictures have been taken in Hunza of family groups by visitors showing babies with their father and grandfather. These grandfathers are unlikely to be any older than they appear. They are perhaps 50 years of age as is common for a grandfather, not 120 years of age as some books falsely claim. http://www.biblelife.org/hunza.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_myths Apr 30 08, 3:38 AM