Archaeologists have found the world’s oldest bed in South Africa and it’s 50,000 years older than any bedding ever found. The 77,000-year-old bedding, which was made with medicinal plants, shows how creative our ancestors could be.
Imagine the thought process of an ancient human. Sleeping on the ground for years probably made for a straight back but didn’t do well for a comfortable sleep (or other bedroom activities). Who was the genius who set out a bunch of leaves to give him a wee more comfort. Did he or she get made fun of? Or were they lauded as genius. So many questions!
The archaeologists discovered a stack of these ancient beds that consisted of “compacted stems and leaves of sedges, rushes and grasses stacked in at least 15 layers within a chunk of sediment 10 feet [3m] thick.” Basically, the bedding was made from leaves. More comfortable than the ground, right? Most of the plant remains used in ancient bedding were that of Cryptocarya, a plant species that also holds medicinal purposes and keeps mosquitoes away. The discovery of using such a plant goes to show that not only were early humans savvy and resourceful, they loved a good’s night rest just as much as we do. [Live Science via Geekosystem]