chapotraphouse

Sort of. As a social species that relies on trickery more than physical prowess, we seem to have selected for people to often live to grandparenting age so that the tricks are built upon and transmitted. Groups of hominids who weren't as long-lived might have lacked strategies to survive extreme weather or ecological fluctuations, or indeed competition from tricksier hominids.

But you don't necessarily need a strong back to be an old geezer telling the story of how the village figured out how to survive an unusually long winter 40 years ago.