What's a nomadic tribe to do with someone who can no longer keep up? When there is insufficient food (commonplace in older societies) who is going to get the food?
When resources get scarce, there are a lot of ugly realities.
"Traditional nomadic tribes often end up abandoning their elderly during their unrelenting travels. The choice for the healthy and young is to do this or carry the old and infirm on their backs — along with children, weapons and necessities — through perilous territory. Also prone to sacrificing their elderly are societies that suffer periodic famines. Citing a dramatic example, Diamond said Paraguay’s Aché Indians assign certain young men the task of killing old people with an ax or spear, or burying them alive."
