robodog

You are correct in that women got married at a young age (heck they still do in many parts of the world) back then, you are incorrect in the age of their mates. Most would have been in their 20's with the upper bounds generally being around 40. Remember how much shorter life expectancy was back then, unless the man was going to be around to support his new wife her family likely would not have allowed the marriage. Juliet was 13 and was to be married to a man in his early 20's, this was a normal situation. She would have been expected to bear her first child within the first two years of the marriage. If you go back in time even further the biological necessity of women maturing quickly becomes evident, if you only live to your mid to late 20's on average then for there to be any chance for knowledge transfer between generations you have to give birth at a young age. This of course does not mean that all or even most young women today are mentally mature enough to handle a kid at these ages. Western society does a fairly good job of extending childhood into the late teens, which is a good things in some ways but in many ways it is bad. When your hormones are telling you one thing and society quite a different one it can be quite confusing.