Newsweek reports that archaeologists in the Czech Republic discovered the remains of an ice skate that probably dates back to the 10th or 11th century. The ice skate was most likely made of horse bone and found to have holes drilled into it, which archaeologists stated were for a strap.
The ice skate was found during a dig taking place in a house’s basement located in the city Přerov, which was once part of a fortress ruled by King Boleslav the Brave, per Newsweek.
Ice skates were originally meant for walking on ice
The original purpose of ice skates was to help people get around in winter, according to Smithsonian Magazine. In the 15th century, people would be seen using frozen canals as additional pathways, like in the Netherlands.
Federico Formenti from King’s College London told Smithsonian Magazine, “(Ice skates) were as popular there as cars are in America today. That was the stimulus to try new solutions to improve the skates, so people could travel more rapidly.”
According to the Olympics, ice skating was thought to be started by the Dutch in order to maintain communication between villages during the 13th century. It wasn’t until the 1800s that the concept of figure skating was created.
Zdeněk Schenk from the Comenius Museum in Přerov told Newsweek, “Rather than skating, they would shuffle along the frozen surface with the help of a stick or two. They would also attach the blades to sledges to carry a load of goods across the frozen water.”
Ancient ice skates were made of bones, specifically the shin bones of cattle and horses, because they were cheap and easy to make, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Older ice skates have been found
The ice skate found in the Czech Republic is not the oldest ice skate found by archaeologists.
According to Live Science, a group of archaeologists in China found 3,500-year-old ice skates made from oxen and horse bones. An official statement from the Chinese Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences shared that these ice skates were the first ones to ever be found in China.
Per Smithsonian Magazine, bone ice skates have been found in Hungary, Scandinavia and Germany. A pair of bone ice skates from the 12th century were discovered in London and are now in display at the Museum of London, per Fordham University.
Schenk told Newsweek that the 1,000-year-old bone ice skate they found in Přerov is practically identical to ancient ice skates found in Sweden, England and Ireland.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, it’s not clear how the bone ice skates were used in the Bronze Age aside from travel, due to a lack of records. But what they do know is that paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries depict people ice skating for fun.