hammock origins, not lost to time

[jellyfish]

I can see it. It seems such a simple solution. If you haven't seen it already. So simple even a ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snl4U8HPdtQ

I really like this video.

Orangutans are so brilliant. Though the video makes me sad because of the cage.

[Rouskof]

I can see it. It seems such a simple solution. If you haven't seen it already. So simple even a ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snl4U8HPdtQ

I really like this video.

Incredible. Love the comment "In presence of super intelligent orangoutan, records video incorrectly". lol

[Latherdome]

Love this thread. As an every-night hammock sleeper for 5 years, it feels good to consider that my habit isn't novel or weird after all, but rather represents reclamation of an ancient, elegant, almost-lost sleeping technology.

There've been recent breakthrough discoveries concerning the extent and sophistication of ancient Mayan society. Where experts previously believed settlements of a few tens of thousands existed, new evidence shows vastly higher population density, a megalopolis of up to 15 million: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/...emala-pacunam/ . I thrilled to consider that they may well have slept in hammocks. In fact, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, since people had been there tens of thousands of years prior, and Europeans encountered them using hammocks 700 years after the decline of the Mayan classical period, it seems more likely that they did than not.

But then, poking around, I found this article that states otherwise, however citing no sources: https://www.abhaengen.com/en/history-of-hammocks : "They were not part of Classic era Maya civilization; they were said to have arrived in the Yucatán from the Caribbean fewer than two centuries before the Spanish conquest."

Anybody dug hard enough to back up or refute this claim that hammocks moved from the relatively sparse Caribbean societies to Mesoamerica only recently before the Spanish conquest? How would they know?

It's also thrilling to me to consider that after potentially thousands of years of relative design stability of gathered-end hammocks, just in the last couple decades has bottom insulation become a thing, making hammocks work outside the tropics as beds. If you consider that beds are among the bulkiest possessions many people own, and expensive, and we spend a third of our lives in them, this simple technological development seems poised to change domestic history. Cultural factors, though, frequently deny otherwise sensible ideas broad embrace.

[jellyfish]

I consulted my resident archaeologist and he seems to think that the mayans slept on platform beds.

Interestingly, in the Caribbean, the common people slept in hammocks but the caciques slept on platform beds.

Technology transfer between South America, Central America and the Caribbean is a hot topic in archaeology. I am sure there must be research on this.

[Chesapeake]

This Sunday my youngest has GS Troop trip and we are going down to the inner harbor in Baltimore to check out all the historic ships. One of which, and my favorite, is the USS Constitution https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_...llation_(1854) , a sloop-of-war that was built in 1854. Every time I go
( and I've been 100's of times since I was a kid) I always try to sneak a quick lay in one of the original ships hammocks that are still on the gun deck. Seeing the rows of canvas hammocks hung in such tight quarters and amidst all the cannons really makes one realize that each of those hammocks was that sailors only personal space and was really the only place of comfort and privacy that they had for months at a time. Can you imagine if one of them came here today and saw one of ours? Lol. Ill post some pics for everyone to see when I get home Sunday afternoon.

[jellyfish]

Looking forward to the pics!

[jadekayak]

I read that post and enjoyed it.

Someone obviously didnt like being corrected in such an authoritive way.

Thanks for reposting it.

[akaCat]

Seeing the rows of canvas hammocks hung in such tight quarters and amidst all the cannons really makes one realize that each of those hammocks was that sailors only personal space and was really the only place of comfort and privacy that they had for months at a time.

I’m curious, I wonder if they even were personal space for the sailors? I mean, obviously only one sailor used a hammock at a time. But on some ships with tight space, there’d be up to three crew members using a single bunk, in shifts. Did they have to share the hammocks on the Constitution?

Looking forward to seeing those pictures!

[jellyfish]

Have you seen the movie Master and Commander? There is a scene with the hammocks and they are squeezed in really tight. I wonder if that is authentic.

[Halfed]

Very interesting! Thanks for posting!