evolution of human hair

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This may have more to do with the aging process than with survival. A long time ago we didn't really live long enough to have that as a major issue in survival or mate selection.

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Except that most men who loose hair start to do so when
quite young (20-30) ... while many older gents (my dad
included at 75) still have as thick a mop of hair as when they
were younger.

Not sure what the evidence is for shorter lifespans,
but I apologise anyhow .... thought you were talking generally
rather than specific to the pre-tool folks.

Re: Testosterone and ethnicity:
I think you are right, there must be more to it than that,
but testosterone seems to play an imortant role.Re: Hairy European women:
Unshaved women tend to have hair in many places , but
few grow full beards, chest hair, back hair or belly hair
in the large quantities that a lot of European men do....or at least few that I have had any close dealings with ....

I've read that unwashed hair cleans itself, and
can be in much better condition than our trend for
constant washing .... never seen this corroborated though
and never been able to leave my hair unwashed long enough
to check it out.

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For sake of argument I'll just assume I have been living around the upper half of the bell curve on hair growth.

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Me two I know a few ladies whose hair has reached close to their
ankles, let alone knees. One in particular had never had her
hair cut -- ever (at age 17 and about 5'3") -- and had to have it tied or braided to stop it trailing on the floor. Another I knew
was similar -- hair very long.And since most people cut their hair I'd really like to see
some data to back up the report.

Graveyards and records from when?A walk through the graveyard of my parish church,
with gravestones dating back to the 1600's, shows
many people living into their 70's over the last three hundred
years.If we are talking extremely ancient human populations
we have no data to make an assessment. Fossils don't
help since they are few and far between.Even in historical times there are finds which cast doubt
on the lower life expectancy suggestion. Roman remains of
a whole group of elderly women for example, Sir Isaac Newton maybe.Also, if the graveyards are from times when there were known
plague, famine, war-torn conditions they may not be indicative
of earlier life-expectancies.Perhaps average life expectancy is not a good metric, since
it is the young who are more likely to expose themselves to
danger/risk so that avg life expect measures risk-exposure
rather than life-span?