Sleeping Equipment

While I may joke about myself being an extremely lazy individual, I'm not sure that it's precisely true.  Of course, today's topic will not help my side of the argument.  I've spent enough time sleeping outside (camping. come on, I don't drink that much) to realize that folks must've started looking for softer places to rest their heads long before we had the ability to ask the locals for the nearest hotel.  Naturally, the modern foam and spring mattress bears little resemblance to more traditional styles, but what did they use?
    It turns out that mattress technology (like so many others) reached some early peaks and didn't really advance until relatively recently.  In Ancient Rome, they were stuffing cloth bags (tick mattresses) with reeds, straw, wool, or feathers to sleep upon (though feathers were just for the rich). Surprisingly, water beds made of animal skins were made in Persia in 3600BC.  Following the Crusades, many knights who returned to Europe began to sleep on piled cushions, in the Arabic tradition.  While they never seem to have figured out waterbeds, Medieval Europe did begin to cover their tick mattresses with velvets and brocades in the 15th Century.  Way to go, fellas. 
    Beds have been a piece of furniture as far back as Ancient Egypt.  Originally, they were general purpose pieces of furniture (like modern day-beds) from which the owner could eat meals or entertain guests.  It's important to remember that the separate bedroom was relatively uncommon in Europe (even lords might sleep in the great hall) until modern times and still requires a certain financial level (ever been in a studio apartment?), so big pieces had to be multi-use.  It wasn't until the 16th and 17th Centuries that the timber frame bed, with rope or leather straps, became common.  Featherbeds had to be placed on a firmer mattress (assuming the bed was suspended) and required reforming every morning.  Cotton didn't start to be used as a filler until the 18th Century (this might have been changed by the cotton gin). 
    One of the joyous inventions from Central America is the hammock.  Attributed to the Maya of a thousand years ago, these woven strands which suspend their occupants between two points, are a beautiful way to rest.  It was suggested that they may have built small fires under the hammocks to keep warm and fend off insects, though that seems pretty frightening.  In the 16th Century, they were adopted by the imperialist navies as great space-saving devices (plus they swing with the swells).  The rocking motion is a beautiful feature, but there are a number of other benefits.  They help keep you cool in warm weather by increasing airflow over the body.  Getting off of the ground where things like to nibble on you is always a good idea.  They pack up very small, making it easy to transport or store (as well as easy to string up).  I definitely have to install heavy duty hooks in my next apartment for mine.
    It's a shame that European sleep science didn't make much in the way of advances for a thousand years or more.  Thank goodness modern scientists have straightened out their priorities.  I can only imagine the ruckus caused by tossing and turning on a straw tick mattress.  Once the rustling stopped, it'd probably be as hard as a rock.  You have to think that they're more susceptible to moisture and vermin as well.  "Hmmm, do I just need to wash the sheets or is that my mattress mouldering?"  Maybe the Japanese had it right after all, sleeping on thin futons and wooden pillows (ok, they used buckwheat hull pillows too). 
   



mattress timeline - http://www.slideshare.net/radar0arrow/the-history-of-the-bed-mattress
Mattress timeline - http://bettersleep.org/mattresses-and-more/history-of-the-mattress
Feather Beds & Duvets - http://www.oldandinteresting.com/history-feather-beds.aspx
Short History of Beds - http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventions/a/bed.htm
Mattress Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattress
Hammock History - http://www.history.com/news/hammocks-rocking-history
Japanese - http://www.jlifeinternational.com/houseitems/futon/futon-info_e.html