They had candles and lanterns but I wonder if people slept a lot more pre 1900? In the winter it might have been preferable to stay in bed under warm blankets.
I also read somewhere that people would sleep in 2 shifts - they would wake up after 4 or so hours and do stuff and then go back to sleep.
The latter is called “second sleep,” and there’s evidence it was common.
Remember, though, that lighting was expensive before gas and electric lights. You’d have to be well off to afford to burn candles or oil lamps every night. Most people would go to sleep when it got dark. If they were up past then, it would be doing things that require minimal light.
There was actually a recent study of the sleep and activity patterns of different groups of contemporary hunter-gatherers (original article behind paywall, decent summary here) . Basically, these people were sleeping 6-7 hours per day, and their sleep patterns weren’t that different from people living in modern societies. There was no observation of a “second sleep” or middle-of-the-night activity period.
That contradicts an awful lot of the popular narrative about how modern technology has irreparably harmed our sleep patterns. Though IMO, I think the popular press went to far when reporting this study, virtually considering proof that modern technology causes no harm. If nothing else, I think it’s a stretch to equate hunter gatherers at low latitudes with warm climates to pre-industrial farmers and pastoralists living at high latitudes with cold climates.
(Personally, I know my sleep habits have improved immensely through careful control of lighting and screen time, particularly by minimizing exposure to blue light)
Of interest in that abstract is that naps are reported in HG societies among nearly 7% of people in winter and nearly 22% in summer. (Much more I suspect than in most developed world societies.) On the other side of the paywall is there any information about how long those naps are? There minimally seems to be a rest period mid-day in summer months with seeking shade mid-day.
Even though I brought it up, I’m skeptical of the second sleep being common. There’s evidence it did happen, but that’s written evidence, which would be from upper class people – those who could afford to burn candles. Most of the population wouldn’t burn one every night.
Now, it doesn’t preclude conversation and “conversation.” Or prayer and meditation. But I find the evidence inconclusive.
Gotta comment that, as a country dweller, the moon must have played an important role. When it’s full, few days before and after, it is almost like the sun being out. Not to mention the mystical pull of the moon in its relation to sleep and dreams.
So what are they doing the remaining 5 or so hours of darkness??
There’s no way this is correct. Virtually nobody is going to sleep only 6 hours when they can do 8 without sacrificing useful activities.