The oldest known bedding — sleeping mats made of mosquito-repellant
evergreens that are about 77,000 years old — has been discovered in a
South African cave.
This use of medicinal plants, along with other artifacts at the cave,
helps reveal how creative these early peoples were, researchers said. An international team of archaeologists discovered the stack of ancient
beds at Sibudu, a cave in a sandstone cliff in South Africa. They
consist of compacted stems and leaves of sedges, rushes and grasses
stacked in at least 15 layers within a chunk of sediment 10 feet (3
meters) thick.
Beginning about 58,000 years ago, the layers of bedding at the site
became more densely packed, and the number of hearths and ash dumps rose
dramatically as well. The archaeologists believe this is evidence of a
growing population, perhaps corresponding with other population changes
within Africa at the time.