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What is it about human physiology that leads us to use pillows, and does anyone know when we first came up with the idea?

Mike Follows
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, UK

We likely inherited our habit of using pillows from our ancestors. The great apes build nests in which to sleep. With the exception of those made by gorillas, these nests are usually located in trees, helping the animals to evade predators and biting insects, as well as providing warmth and comfort. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus) and orangutans (Pongo sp.) all construct arboreal sleeping platforms.

Orangutans, in particular, are master architects and have learned to build remarkably strong structures. They deliberately bend and partially break branches, creating what’s known as a greenstick fracture. Counterintuitively, this makes the branches stronger, as the only way to break them completely is then to twist them. The apes add loose branches for bedding, including structures that would readily pass for a pillow.

Particularly when lying in the fetal position, having a pillow to support the head makes sleep more comfortable for most of us. Animals that experience more comfortable sleep spend more time in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is crucial for brain development and learning. Nest-building, and the use of a simple pillow, may therefore have been central to the advances made by early hominins.

Eric Kvaalen
Les Essarts-le-Roi, France

I don’t know, but they go back thousands of years. In the Book of Genesis, Jacob is leaving the Land of Canaan to escape the wrath of his brother Esau. He spends the night in the open, and uses a rock for a pillow. He then dreams of seeing a ladder going to heaven, with angels climbing up and down. When he wakes up, he exclaims that the place is full of wonder, the dwelling place of God, and he calls it Bethel, meaning “house of God” (which might be interesting to the question poser, Paul Bethel).

Mike Griffiths
London, UK

In ancient Egypt, people didn’t use a pillow, but a solid headrest, with a semicircular top section supported on a pillar. I have no idea how they got a good night’s sleep.

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