Global Characteristics

Title:

Ice skate made from a horse metapodial bone

Place of discovery:

Craywick, Hauts-de-France, France

Date:

Early Middle Ages (9th-10th century)

Dimensions:

24cm width

Materials:

Horse bone

Description

In the Early Middle Ages, rural communities subsided on agriculture and animal husbandry. Perforated and worn equid bones have been discovered in domestic refuse deposits.

Theses traces bear witness to the transformation of animal bone into a functional implement used to facilitate human movement across frozen surfaces. This type of object is documented across eastern and northern Europ from prehistory through the modern and contemporary periods.

Iconographic and written sources depict scenes of everyday life, enabling a better understanding of their use in contexts of leisure, play, and even sport.

© Samuel Desoutter, Inrap