Ten beds that changed the world, from King Tut to Tracey Emin
Stephen Moss
1. Homo horizontalus
Beds are as old as humanity itself. I sleep, therefore I am. Until last year, the first evidence for the use of plant mattresses – made up of layers of stems and leaves – was from 80,000 years ago. But a new study turned that on its head and dated the use of grass bedding to caves in southern Africa 227,000 years ago, which is when
homo sapiens were just getting into their stride. Early humans put grass bedding on top of an area that had been burned to get rid of insects. They recognised the value of sleeping well. It also seems they liked staying in bed: the presence of slivers of rock among the remnants of grass mattresses suggests they made stone tools while still in bed. So don’t feel any guilt about using your laptop from bed: we’ve been at it from the start of human existence.