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Archaeologists Discover 1000-Year-Old Ice Skate Made From Animal Bone

Archaeologists haven't been able to date the artifact but assume it could belong to the second half of the 10th century or the first quarter of the 11th century.

BY SOMDATTA MAITY

PUBLISHED NOV 11, 2024

Pair of bone skates from Sigtuna, Sweden. Late 12th century. (Cover Image Source: Wikimedia Commons/Photo by Sidensvansen)

Archaeologists have added another noteworthy medieval discovery to their kitty, this time from the Czech Republic's Moravia region. Researchers have unearthed what they believe to be a 1,000-year-old ice skate, made out of animal bone, amidst several pottery fragments at a site in Přerov, Newsweek reported.

Archaeologists haven't been able to date the artifact but assume it could belong to the second half of the 10th century or the first quarter of the 11th century due to other materials excavated near it.

An archaeologist brushes fossiled bones found at the Hell Gap excavation in eastern Wyoming. (Image Source: Getty Images/Photo by Lowell Georgia)

The excavation was conducted by experts from the Comenius Museum, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The team located the ice skate in a basement at Přerov.

Zdeněk Schenk, an archaeologist from the museum stated that the animal bone had been tapered into a "nose" on one side, and featured a small hole on each end. They believe that humans of those times could have been using leather straps to thread through these small holes so that they could attach the skate to a shoe or sled.

At present, skates are used for sport or leisure activities, but in medieval times their purpose was to help people with transportation during the cold months of the year, Smithsonian Magazine reported. "Rather than skating, they would shuffle along the frozen surface with the help of a stick or two," Schenk explained. "They would also attach the blades to sleds to carry a load of goods across the frozen water."

A pair of 11th century ice skates made from horse metacarpal bones. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons/Photo by Simon Speed)

The medieval skates were usually made from an animal’s metapodials (bones used to connect digits to a leg or arm) or were carved from radii (forearm bones of cattle and horses), Smithsonian Magazine reported. Schenk thinks that a horse's shin was likely used to construct the particular skate found in the Czech Republic.

Finding skates is not an uncommon occurrence in Europe, Smithsonian Magazine reported. They have been used for centuries in the continent. "The bone skate from Přerov is nearly identical to skates recovered in northern Europe, for example, from Birka in Sweden—a very famous archaeological site from the Viking Age—and also from York in England or Dublin in Ireland," Schenk explained. He further added how skating has been a long-held tradition for Europeans marveling at the fact that "our ancestors skated over the frozen Bečva river 1,000 years ago."