See the 12 different prints in front of you? They are from 17th- to 19th-century Europe. These people all supposedly lived a long life, well over 100 years old.
In the past, people’s lives were shorter, but a few people did live a long life. Their precise numerical age was often uncertain.
Records kept by churches often relied on self-description.
Some people claimed to be over 100 years old, but it was likely a mix of truth, exaggeration and wishful thinking.
There is a print of a wife and husband, Sarah and John Rovin. Sarah claimed to be 164 years old, whilst John claimed to be 171 years old. It’s impossible!
The modern record for the oldest human was a French woman named Jeanne Calment. She was born in 1875 and died in 1997, at the incredible age of 122 years old.