Bone ice skates in the medieval Novgorod (based on archaeological research of the Institute of Archaeology RAS in 2018–2019)

Abstract

The article summarizes available information on bone ice skates and presents the results of research and classification of the collection of skates of the 11th–15th centuries found by the Novgorod Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology RAS. Medieval ice skates are small bone runners made from the tubular bones of large domestic animals. All objects show traces of the specific processing of original bones: cut off epiphyses and a flattened plantar side (sliding surface). The amount of accumulated archaeological material, instrumental study of wear pattern on the working surface, experiments in the use and manufacture of skates, numerous ethnographic parallels in the use of bone skates in a number of countries almost up to the present day, as well as the fact of skating on bone shoes recorded in a 12th century source, make it safe to say that, in functional terms, ice skating was one of the forms of winter pastime and was a part of the Novgorod dwellers’ everyday life.