Chook Me!

How did people wake up in the mornings before alarm clocks and domesticated roosters?

I couldn't imagine waking up in the morning without an alarm clock!!! I could possibly learn to deal with roosters, but how did people wake up on time in the old days before both of these???

Public Comments

1. Maybe when the sun came up at a certain time, and then it became a habit.
2. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (428–348 BC) was said to possess a large water clock with an unspecified alarm signal similar to the sound of a water organ; he used it at night, possibly for signalling the beginning of his lectures at dawn (Athenaeus 4.174c).The Hellenistic engineer and inventor Ctesibius (fl. 285–222 BC) fitted his clepsydras with dial and pointer for indicating the time, and added elaborate "alarm systems, which could be made to drop pebbles on a gong, or blow trumpets (by forcing bell-jars down into water and taking the compressed air through a beating reed) at pre-set times". Before this probably people wasnt really intented to wake up early
3. Probably habit. Your body has a natural "alarm clock" built right into it. I woke up at 2 am for so many years that even though I no longer work for other people, I STILL wake up at 2 am whether I want to or not. If someone else in the house needs to wake early, I'm their girl/alarm clock. One of my house mates is the same way, but he wakes at 4 am - as he has for many years. I guess if you have someone (or something) waking you the same time every day for years at a time, your body just /knows/ "it's time to wake up" when your inner clock hits a certain point and you just wake up.
4. They just woke up when they woke up because time wasn't important to them.
5. There is not need for clocks or roosters as long as you are in tune with your natural state of being and don't let the world around rule you and stress you. We all have a natural inner clock though most people today have more or less killed it because of the modern lifestyle. The routine of sleeping as much as you need and going to bed in time will allow you to wake up at a certain time too. Some people experience this on their days off, they can sleep as long as they want to but wake up when the alarm usually goes off. The sun is also helpful if you live in a part of the world where the sun raises at about the same time in the morning. It's not helpful if you live in areas where the sun is up 24/7 during the summer. Studies show that people in areas like that sleep a lot more in the winter than in the summer because of it. People who are "in tune" with their inner clock can also tell themselves when they need to get up. I meet many elderly who can still to that. They usually get up at 7am but have to get up at 5am for some reason, and they are awake by 5am without an alarm. I'm not as those elderly who I know, but I'm close to it. Most of the time I'm awake before my alarm goes off, not matter what time it's set to, but ever now and then it happens that I sleep too long.
6. They didn't have electricity so they went to sleep when it got dark and woke up when the sun came out.