Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technologies of the Stone Age

Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by delichon on Thursday October 08, 2026 @12:13PM (#50007675)

I had one of the best sleeps of my life on a bed of soft sand, in the curve of a dry creek that I really should not have slept in, due to flash flood risk. Since then I've wondered if ancient people might have made mattresses of sand, but they were so simple and evanescent that they left no trace.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by mr_toad on Thursday October 08, 2026 @01:18PM (#50008729)

Sand is a pretty good heat conductor. It’d probably be ok on hot nights, but not so much in winter.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by L_226 on Thursday October 08, 2026 @01:56PM (#50009381)

it's a good thermal insulator! next time you are at the beach with hot sand, try digging down a few cm with your toes.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by gchamonlive on Thursday October 08, 2026 @01:41PM (#50009107)

Good thing you can just cover it with a blanket or something in winter

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by AlotOfReading on Thursday October 08, 2026 @02:15PM (#50009700)

You need more insulation than you'd expect. The coldest campsites I've ever had have all been on sand.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by gchamonlive on Thursday October 08, 2026 @03:41PM (#50010994)

Since we're talking about stone age tech, would mammoth pelt offer good insulation?

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by AlotOfReading on Thursday October 08, 2026 @06:49PM (#50013536)

Can't say I have a lot of experience sleeping on mammoth pelt.

A slightly more modern way to deal with cold sand is to bury some coals beneath the pelt, after using them to cook your dinner or whatever.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by bell-cot on Thursday October 08, 2026 @01:23PM (#50008806)

Possibly - but if they transported the sand to where they slept very often, that would show up in archeological digs.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by throwup238 on Thursday October 08, 2026 @02:07PM (#50009559)

Accounts by westerners enslaved by nomadic tribes (when they shipwrecked on the coast) often talk about looking for sand to sleep on, especially when in the rocky parts of the Sahara, so I’d wager humans have been sleeping on sand for a very long time.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by doitLP on Friday October 09, 2026 @01:02AM (#50016185)

The kalahari bushman had a trick to stay cool on a hot day: dig a sand pit in the shade, put in the fibrous bits of inedible plant material, pee on them, lay down in the pit and cover up with sand and wait until the evening cooled things down.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by tejohnso on Thursday October 08, 2026 @07:59PM (#50014122)

Were you in a tent? I'd be too worried about sand critters to do that otherwise.

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Re:Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the 'Invisible' Technol... by delichon on Friday October 09, 2026 @10:53AM (#50021366)

Not even a ground cloth, just a sleeping bag. Under an astonishingly clear night sky with galaxies for nightlights. This was the territory of the red diamond rattlesnake and the Arizona giant hairy scorpion. If they visited me that night I was too sound asleep to notice.

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