Slumber's Unexplored Landscape Analysis

In the article “Slumber’s Unexplored Landscape,” by Bruce Bower the focus is on the sleep customs and patterns of indigenous/traditional societies in comparison to the more recent sleep developments of the western world. As noted in the article the sleep rituals of these traditionals societies have rarely been explored over time, however, through the collaboration of seven other researchers Carol M. Worthman, (one of the highlighted anthropologist exploring the styles of sleeps in non western parts of the world) is able to conclude and or gather a clearer understanding of sleep within these non-westernized cultures. In Worthman's findings, a decent sample of ten non-western cultures were studied and the speculation that sleep might be approached the same around the world is primarily debunked. Some of the common themes amongst the ten groups studied were, communal sleep, which is a form of sleep where the members of a family and or community sleep together within the same vicinity. According to the article, this is done for safety measures since someone is bound to warn the others if danger arises. Another theme was the lack of mattresses, pillows, and
Psychiatrist Thomas A. Wehr conducted a sleep study that imitated the night time settings of ancient life. The adults who participated in this sleep study without artificial light from dusk to dawn, began to show signs of sleep patterns that resemble a more primitive state when compared to other mammals and perhaps might have exhibited the patterns some of the earliest people were accustomed to. The change of sleep pattern within the study groups definitely indicates that sleep isn’t solely biological, but one’s culture also affects the way sleep is approached. As this was also shown in the studied indigenous cultures where concerns about exposure to evil spirits and ghost were