Prior to the industrial revolution and the invention of the electric light, most of our ancestors actually slept in two shifts, spending the time in between awake. It's known as biphasic sleep.
Essays in The Guardian, CNN, The New York Times, and The New York Times Magazine recommended an old fix for restlessness called “segmented sleep.” In premodern Europe, and perhaps centuries earlier, people routinely went to sleep around nightfall and woke up around midnight—only to go back to sleep a few hours later, ...
Arguably from time immemorial to the nineteenth century, the dominant pattern of sleep in Western societies was biphasic, whereby most preindustrial households retired between 9 and 10pm, slept for 3 to 3 ½ hours during their “first sleep,” awakened after midnight for an hour or so, during which individuals did ...
Although people may have benefitted from sleeping in two phases when it was still a popular practice, there's no evidence that this may be the case for life in the 21st century.
First/Second Sleep Schedule: The original biphasic sleep schedule, from the preindustrial era, split sleep into two segments during the night. People would have their first sleep around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., wake up around midnight for an hour or two, and then have their second sleep after that.
They stay up late into the evening, average less than 6 1/2 hours of sleep and rarely nap.
They would sleep for around five hours and then wake up. The next hour or so would be dedicated to chores around the house, reading, relaxing or intimacy and then the people would settle down for a second round of sleep.
History of Ancient Human Sleep
In this sleep research, they found that the people went to sleep about 3.5 hours after sunset, challenging the idea that staying awake later may result from modern technology. The average sleep duration was 6.25 hours, with the subjects sleeping less during summer and more in winter.
For millennia, people slept in two shifts – once in the evening, and once in the morning.
Our ancestral hunter-gatherers might have slept in groups of 15 to 20 around a campfire, taking turns staying awake and watching over the others. The protection gained from sleeping socially allowed early humans to get a better night's rest.
Sleeping positions were also vastly different to what most people do today. Lying flat in bed was associated with death, so medieval people would sleep in a half upright position. Andrew Boorde even suggested that daytime naps should be taken standing up, and leaning against a wall.
They would go to bed around 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m., sleep for three to four hours, and wake up after midnight for an hour or so. During that time they might pray, meditate, have sex, or even perform simple chores that didn't require much illumination or skill.
In the Victorian era the public would typically fall asleep at 7pm when the sun disappeared, however this dramatically moved to 10pm in the Edwardian era, finally settling at 12pm in the modern age. Although our bedtime has become later throughout the years, we've continued to wake up around a similar time.
Some popular theories outlined by Harvard's Healthy Sleep website include: Inactivity Theory – Organisms evolved to sleep at night to protect themselves from danger. Energy Conservation Theory – Sleep reduces an organism's energy needs at night when it's not efficient to search for food.
In Medieval societies, people generally slept for around four hours, then woke for a few hours to pray or socialise with their bed fellows, before going back to sleep – a practice that seems very alien to us nowadays.
A study of hunter-gatherer societies suggests that our prehistoric ancestors slept for about the same number of hours we do today.
Ancient site suggests early humans controlled fire and used plants to ward off insects. View from the mouth of Border Cave in South Africa, the site where researchers discovered fossilized bedding used by ancient humans.
People would first sleep between around 9pm and 11pm, lying on rudimentary mattresses generally filled with straw or rags, unless they were particularly wealthy and could afford feathers. People normally shared beds, alongside family members, friends and, if travelling, even strangers.
Ancient people who lived in the north were healthier. They had better teeth and less cancer. The most ancient individuals were less likely to have been predisposed to cancer and neurological/psychological conditions.
The study carried out by Professor Ekirch from the University of Virginia, has revealed that ancient people used to sleep about 8 hours per night... but not all at once!
Blankets in prehistoric cultures took the form of animal skins, furs, and plant materials, which were used for warmth, comfort, and protection from the elements.
Other weird records
Previously, Peter Tripp held the first record at 201 hours and suffered from hallucinations for several days after. Between Peter and Randy, Honolulu DJ Tom Rounds made it to 260 hours. Randy tapped out at 264 hours, and slept for 14 hours straight after.
Before electricity was widely used in homes, people fell asleep much earlier at night and adopted a biphasic sleep cycle where they awoke for a few hours during the night for leisure activities.
Modern research suggests that sleeping twice in a 24-hour period (a sleep pattern that is alternately referred to as biphasic sleep, segmented sleep, or siesta sleep) may facilitate greater energy levels, alertness, cognitive function, and productivity.