It seems that since humankind first stood up to see over the tall Savannah grasses, we’ve been looking for a place to sit back down. The historical record is not quite so succinct, however—but when early migratory peoples first settled down into a domesticated lifestyle, it appears one mark of the civilized person was a seat that elevated the body “away from the cold, damp floor” (de Dampierre 2006). By the simple act of constructing an artificial place to sit, humans began the long tradition of distinguishing themselves from the animal world. It is a form as simple as the bending of our knees and upright posture as our back, and yet that form is not so simple.
