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A study published in Frontiers in Aging reports unusually high late-life survival among women in Bolotana, Sardinia. Researchers estimate that 13.8% of women who reach 70 there live to 100, but the study does not establish why, or whether the village meets the criteria for a blue zone.
A study of historical records from Bolotana, a Sardinian village of about 2,300 people, found that women who reach 70 there have an estimated 13.8% chance of living to 100. The results, published in Frontiers in Aging, suggest unusually strong late-life survival and raise the possibility that Bolotana could be a newly identified blue zone, though the study does not establish what accounts for the pattern.
The research team reconstructed residents’ life histories using municipal records and church archives, including birth, death and baptismal records. The records allowed researchers to cross-check ages, a key issue in studies of extreme longevity. Co-author S. Jay Olshansky, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, said the archive made it possible to independently verify ages.
Researchers documented 38 people who reached 100 among 3,060 people born in Bolotana between 1900 and 1925. For women who reached 70, the team estimated nearly 21 additional years of life expectancy. The corresponding share estimated to reach 100 was about 3.5% among women in Italy and 3.6% among women in the United States. These figures compare populations using the study’s measures; they do not explain why the outcomes differ.
The paper also describes six residents aged 100 or older living in Bolotana in 2024. The researchers estimated that this represented a prevalence roughly 11 times the U.S. rate. That is a point-in-time comparison reported by the study, separate from the analysis of people born from 1900 to 1925.
What Bolotana Adds to Longevity Research
Bolotana gives researchers a population in which reported longevity can be checked against extensive historical records. That matters because age verification is central to evaluating claims about centenarians. The authors say matching civil and church documents allowed them to validate ages across multiple sources.
The findings may also broaden research on Sardinia. The island’s previously recognized longevity area drew attention for high male longevity, while women stand out in this Bolotana analysis. The paper reports that Bolotana women ranked second to Hong Kong on its international comparisons of life expectancy at 70 and the likelihood of reaching 100. The results could help researchers identify questions for further study, but they do not show that a particular diet, habit or social arrangement causes longer life.
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Sardinia’s Longevity Research
“Blue zone” is a term used for communities identified in research for unusually long lives compared with surrounding areas. Other communities singled out by researchers include Okinawa, Japan, and Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. Sardinia already has a recognized longevity area, identified more than two decades ago, with a distinctive pattern of male survival.
Bolotana drew attention after researchers noted its concentration of centenarians. The new paper then examined two measures: life expectancy at age 70 and the estimated probability that someone reaching 70 would live to 100. The researchers’ record-based analysis is the basis for suggesting Bolotana may qualify as another blue zone; the label remains a possibility rather than a settled conclusion.
“What makes Bolotana extraordinary is that it has an incredible historical record that allows us to definitively evaluate ages at birth and death.”
— S. Jay Olshansky, co-author of the study
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Why Residents Live Longer
The study identifies a survival pattern but does not determine its causes. Olshansky pointed to possible factors for further investigation, including local food, walking, family support, social connection and genetics. The research does not isolate the effect of any one factor or show that adopting a village practice would produce the same results elsewhere.
It also remains open whether Bolotana will be formally regarded as a blue zone. The report describes it as a possible new example, and the figures are estimates based on the study’s records and comparisons. The paper does not establish how the pattern has changed in more recent generations.
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Further Study of Bolotana
The next step is to investigate which characteristics might help explain the survival estimates, and how they interact. Researchers could examine diet, physical activity, family and social ties, and genetics, while comparing Bolotana with other populations. The published study offers a record-based starting point; it does not announce a follow-up timetable or identify a specific next study.
Olshansky said understanding the characteristics behind longevity could help people elsewhere learn from communities with long-lived residents. Whether any findings can be applied beyond Bolotana will depend on further evidence about the causes and on whether those conditions can be reproduced in other settings.
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Key Questions
What did the study find about women in Bolotana?
Researchers estimated that 13.8% of women who reach 70 in Bolotana live to 100. The study also estimated nearly 21 additional years of life expectancy for women reaching 70.
Does the study prove Bolotana is a blue zone?
No. The findings suggest Bolotana may be a new blue zone, but the study presents that as a possibility, not a settled designation.
Why might people in Bolotana live longer?
The study does not establish a cause. Researchers have identified local food, walking, family and social connection, and genetics as possible areas for further investigation.
How did researchers check residents’ ages?
They matched municipal birth and death records with church baptismal records to reconstruct life histories and validate ages.
Source: rss
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