Prague: Archaeologists from the Comenius Museum in Prerov have uncovered an ice skate made from animal bone in the city of Prerov, located in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic.

The researchers were conducting rescue excavations in the city’s Upper Square, which during the 10th or 11th century was a series of smaller settlements along the branches of the Becva River, centred on a fortified square where a fortress would later be constructed.

Prerov first appears in recorded history around the mid-12th century in a deed of bishop Jindrich Zdík.

The deed describes the city’s administrative function in the castle system of the Premyslid state, a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and the later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia.

While excavating the basement of a house in the Upper Square area, archaeologists uncovered a 1,000-year-old bone skate among fragments of ceramics.

According to the researchers, the skate is made from a horse’s shin bone and has a carved tip
with a drilled hole and another hole at the back for threading a strap. This strap would then likely be attached to a shoe or possibly a sledge.

Similar examples of bone skates made from cattle or horses have been previously found in Prerov and parts of Europe, with one such example being found in the vicinity of the recent discovery in 2009.

Source: Oman News Agency