How old was ancient?

[bearkat]

I recently came across a burial entry for a man described as an 'ancient yeoman'. 

So, I wondered how old you'd have to be to considered ancient.

[Ruskie]

Over 100.

[Viktoria]

Was it pertaining to his age or a description of some society of which he was a menber?
For  example a member of the Oddfellows could be mistaken for an odd fellow,if punctuation and capital letters were not correct.
The Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes ,lots of permutations there
What date was this?
Viktoria.

[stanmapstone]

From the OED
Ancient; 6. Of living beings: that has lived many years; aged, old; of great age. arch.

Stan

[dowdstree]

They say age is just a state of mind 

I have a record which states "an old lady died" she would have been around 63 years old. Mind you it was back in the late 1700's so that was probably a reasonable age for those days.

Dorrie

[medpat]

I have a relatives death cert. - died of old age aged 62

[Rena]

As the church seemed to rule their lives I would imagine the bible has an apt description:-

From the Bible, Psalm 90, verse 10: "The days of our years are three score and ten."

Possibly over seventy years of age might be seen as "ancient" and those in their later years of life who haven't reached that age might be classed as "very old"

[MaureeninNY]

I think Viktoria's question is very valid!

Sort of doubting that "ancient" refers to the man's age but rather his social standing. Knights/yeoman,etc.

Maureen

[Rena]

I think Viktoria's question is very valid!

Sort of doubting that "ancient" refers to the man's age but rather his social standing. Knights/yeoman,etc.

Maureen

You've reminded me of something, which might fit in with the description if the entry was made a few centuries ago.

My brother married into a family that had an ancestor who assisted the King at the start of the civil war.  The king was initially denied entry to Hull, Yorkshire and the ancestor acted as a go-between.   To thank him, the ancestor was made a Yeoman (Freeman) of the county by the king and given a piece of land, some of it is still farmed by the family today.  Possibly the "ancient yeoman" owned a piece of land or was a prominent trader of some sort.