Medieval Nights: The Lost Tradition of Two Sleeps

elkhound · 2025-01-24T10:37:27-0500

Somewhere on here..or i think it was here awhile ago i posted about a study done on some of the last natives in americas and they got them to put the watch thingys tracking on and they studied their sleep pattern and found they sleep in two shifts and only for a short period were all 25 of them asleep. I cant find that article to post but this video popped up today talking about that and how its recorded in our history all humans use to do that or at least large portion of population done.

Lady is a little chatty but interesting

Amish Heart · 2025-01-24T10:54:29-0500

I'll watch the video in a bit, but it's reminding me of the sleeping patterns around here with the amish farmers and their families. Not unusual for someone to pop in at your door at 6 am (yuck, I don't answer) but they eat a larger meal at noontime ish, then nap for a few hrs, so people sleep around here from about 130 to almost 4 if they work from home, and they are up at o dark thirty. Worse in hot weather...up at about 2 am to get ready for work. So it's a change when the seasons change, too....and wheat harvest time...they'll go all into the night, the evening meals are brought to them on the fields. When the humidity is right, it's got to be done. But when it's a social night, many families get together for game night and they'll be up way past midnight.

Magus · 2025-01-24T12:30:34-0500

Ugh. I have 4 sleep cycles. I can only sleep 2-3 hours at a time.
I'm not willing to go back to hitting the liquor just for an extra hour of sleep.

Mountain trapper · 2025-01-24T12:52:25-0500

I always thought the term "2 sleeps" was an indian term to describe distance from one place to another.

SoulSeeker · 2025-01-24T13:34:25-0500

I didn't watch the video but I read where they would go to sleep at dusk, or shortly after and get up in the night. They would work at things they could at night then go back to sleep till dawn. Mainly used during fall and winter early spring thru the darkest months. Women would do sewing, cooking what have you while the men would mend tack, sharpen tools, check on the still. Beer and liquor were used to get the calories they needed when they didn't have a decent harvest. Making it through the winters was always hard back then.