I come across this concept every now and again, mainly in popular media and self-help articles on how to deal with insomnia... This BBC article says that people used to go to sleep, then have a waking period of about two hours of chatting, reading, praying, having sex etc. in the middle of the night, and then went back to sleep until it was time to start the day. Looks like a historian (otherwise unknown to me) Roger Ekirch is the main man behind this theory.
I can't get my hands on his book currently as I'm still in holiday; so, what does rAskHistorians think of this? Is this definitely legit and well-established fact? I just find weird how, according to the article, Ekirch has drawn from as wide range of sources as from Homer to modern Nigerian tribes. Was the two-sleep night really such a well-established, cross-cultural phenomenon, and still so obscurely hidden in our sources that we've only quite recently figured this out? How about peoples in e.g. Asia, would they also do this? (Sorry, I know, lot of questions; pick your favorite and answer that ;))
Here is an archived post that has a lot of discussion about sleep cycles of the past.
No scientific consensus, but an accepted theory.
Right, thanks for everyone who's answered and linked previous threads to similar questions, I hadn't managed to find them when I tried to search for an answer myself.
So, it seems that the few modern studies about this topic that we have, where scientists tried to mimic pre-industrial conditions or where scientists followed modern hunter-gatherer communities, such as this one cited by mnorri, suggest that there's no reason to believe that the segmented sleep is somehow the 'natural' human sleep pattern that was corrupted by artificial lighting, dawn of night life culture etc. Therefore, I'd conclude from this that sleep patterns are just a cultural product that has varied over time and could be different to each society?
I'd still be grateful if someone with a good familiarity with Ekirch's or any other historians study on the topic could engage a bit with the historical sources that has been used. How clear it is that e.g. medieval Europe used to sleep in two segments, how have historians come to this conclusion? I can think of a dozen other ways to interpret the phrase 'first sleep' than just as in the meaning of 'first of two'. Also, would be fascinating to hear if similar studies have been made in other pre-industrial cultures that we have good literary sources for than European ones, such as China.
In his book "The Secret History of Dreaming" Robert Moss discusses the custom of "second sleep" as being quite common among various cultures in times before electric lighting, although he does not provide detailed footnotes, only general chapter references. Still, it's an interesting read and may give more insight to what you are asking about.
Hiya folks!
Unfortunately we're seeing a large number of poor quality responses in this thread. Please note that, in AskHistorians, the onus is on you to provide appropriate evidence for the historical claims you make. Stating that it can be found on Google is not helpful. Mentioning something you may have heard once is not helpful. Guessing based on what you remember from X number of years ago or that one person you talked to once is not helpful.
Proper comments for this subreddit should be in-depth, comprehensive, and informative while properly situating the answer in its historical context. It should also be backed by appropriate primary and secondary sources, whether or not explicitly mentioned in the comment (i.e. you should always be ready to provide sources if asked). In other words, answers here should be such as an historian of the subject would give.
Thanks!
I'm wondering if climate might have been a factor in a two-sleep pattern? Siesta is still common in some Mediterranean areas, because in the afternoon it's too hot to go outside comfortably.