Assuming they didn't have a cockerel to do the job for them.
2006-11-29 04:31:54 · 30 answers · asked by R M 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Before clocks, there wasn't the modern concept of "time to get up" -- as others have pointed out, time was measured by the sun.
Actually alarm devises were the first clocks. They were needed by monks to know when to pray.
Water clocks for example -- when the water ran out, it rang a bell, alerting the monk stationed at it that it was time to wake the other monks.
When clocks first started being built, they were huge clocks for the whole town, and they would ring the town's bells.
Our conception of time, of hours, minutes, and seconds is fairly recent.
As others have mentioned, most people went to bed early, and thus woke up early.
2006-11-29 06:25:31 · answer #1 · answered by tehabwa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The appendix, now reduce to a vestigial organ used to be capable of both solar time keeping and rudimentary vibration leading to it being used in many cultures as an in built "alarm-clock". The New-worlders or American peoples still show signs of this archaic organs true uses in the genetic disorder "wobbly mornin' foot" which plagues many people in the southern states particularly texas.
2006-11-29 04:37:38 · answer #2 · answered by neddy p 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are able to train yourself to work with an internal clock. It isn't difficult.
Whenever I need to get up at a certain time, I go to sleep telling myself to wake up at 3:45, 6:30 or whatever. Very rarely does my alarm go off because of that. I tend to wake up a couple of minutes before it does the vast majority of time.
2006-11-29 04:36:42 · answer #3 · answered by it_les 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before the invention of clocks and, actually, of factories, people "knew" what 'time' it was in relative terms. most people rose with and went to bed with the sun, as they didn't have lamps to work in the dark. Also, most people were involved with the land, and so could only work when it was daylight. those involved in trade did so also during daylight hours. if you were lucky you had candles or lamps to light your house, or perhaps a fireplace, but nothing very strong. people slept more and worked harder physically than we do today.
2006-11-29 04:35:15 · answer #4 · answered by harpertara 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
did you know that the **** (male chicken) crows exactly at six in the morning? when i lived in africa, this is when i would wake up.
but we still have the body clock. if you are not experiencing jet lag and if you have not been working lots of odd shifts (therefore sleeping fairly regularly) you can actually decide that you want to wake up at a certain time and if you really want to (e.g. for an interview) then you will!
i do it all the time.
2006-11-29 05:36:34 · answer #5 · answered by Can I Be Your Pet? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe they used the sunlight?
Way back when, before the days of labor laws and such, the normal work day was from "sun up to sun down". Folks made less money in the winter time, I suppose, and worked much longer hours in the summer.
I'm guessing by this, that they used the sun as their alarm clock.
Maybe they didn't use shades on their windows?
2006-11-29 04:34:50 · answer #6 · answered by YahYah24 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well there's allways that big bright shiny thing in the sky.
On a serious note, repition. I once did a one month vist where I lived as an apostolic in the apostilic school in new hampshire. Every morining at 6'o'clock (hard for me since i always sleep in :P) we got up, made our beds, and said morning prayers...ecepth the prayrs where shouted back and forth at the top of our lungs. When I got back home, the first morning I woke up at six adrenilin running, in able to get back to sleep preparing for shouting to commence.
2006-11-29 04:39:07 · answer #7 · answered by FeelNFine 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If the sun was just over the horizon it was time to get up, if it was over the trees then they were late.
In cities they used to have a "knocker upper" this was the guy that would light the gas lamps at night, put them out in the morning and with the long pole that was used for this job they would tap on your bedroom window when it was time for you to get up for your shift in the pit.
2006-11-29 04:37:16 · answer #8 · answered by Bladerunner (Dave) 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Native American's and some other tribes used to drink lots of water to wake up early.
Secondly animals were used like the crowing of a rooster.
Thirdly humans have their own biological clock I myself stopped using alarm clocks around 7 or 8 years ago. I rarely if ever oversleep my body just knows when I want to get up.
2006-11-29 04:34:47 · answer #9 · answered by Will 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
People did not have electricity then...no PC...no Internet...no Yahoo Answers... to sit too long through nights
They simply followed the saying: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
2006-11-29 04:41:26 · answer #10 · answered by Sky Boy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋