It is known that greater levels of education correlate with greater life expectancy, but the novelty in the research here is a matter of just how far back in history this correlation can be shown to exist - it isn't dependent on access to very modern medicine. This is a part of a web of correlations between social status, intelligence, wealth, and education, all of which associate with modestly greater longevity. The underlying mechanisms and their relative importance remain debated; it seems easy to argue for wealth to grant relatively greater access to medicine, for example, but there is also evidence to link intelligence with greater physical robustness.
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