In our latest staff blog post, our Head of Administration, Eeva-Maria Viitanen, a former professional archaeologist with a passion for figure skating, sets the record straight about the true origins of ice skates and Finland.
“In 2007, it was reported in the media how two researchers working in the UK had determined that ice skating had been invented in Finland. The event would have taken place some 4000-5000 years ago during the late Stone Age or Early Bronze Age. I thought this was a strange suggestion since bone skates – the original ice skates – found in Finland or in the adjacent areas date to the Late Iron Age or Medieval Period, that is about 1000 to 1500 years ago.
No one really objected very loudly though some doubts were expressed in public. Then in 2020, an American specialist in skating history, B.A. Thurber, published a book Skates Made of Bone: A History which debunked the earlier results. However, since this book did not receive as much attention as the earlier results, Finland is still mentioned as the place where ice skating was invented in many websites and even books.
The physiological history of ice skates and bone-made ice skates
The research published in 2007 was based mostly on physiological data: ice skating used less energy than cross country skiing and hence it must have been the preferred mode of early winter transportation. The team looked for places in Eurasia where there would have been waters frozen in winter and came up with Finland. The date for the invention was adopted from the actual earliest finds of bone skates in Eastern Europe. The researchers chose to ignore the fact that no bone skates from the same period had been found anywhere in northern Europe. Archaeological research into the topic has since shown that there are also some other problems with the claim of a northern birthplace for skating.
These problems are related to the skates and how they could be used. The bone skates are usually made of cattle or horse leg bones which are naturally flat and durable. They are also not used for food which in the winter would have been more important than skating on ice. The practice of ice skating seems to be related to early agrarian societies and agriculture and animal husbandry were adopted fairly late in the Fennoscandian area. Finnish hunter-gatherers could have used for example elk or deer bones but these were used rarely anywhere where bone skates were made – and no such finds exist in Finland.
The bone skates are simple artifacts that have a flat bottom, usually a slightly upward turned front, and sometimes holes for attaching them to the shoes with string or leather bands. Most often the skater would just stand on the bones without them being attached to their feet. Since there was little traction between the bone surface and ice, the movement was created by using a sharp pole. This was held by both hands and pushed against the ice between the legs. Experimental archaeology has shown that this is indeed possible – the purpose of the artifacts determined as skates had been doubted earlier. However, there is one thing that stops the movement: snow. The ice has to be clear of snow for the bone skates to work.
Medieval bone skates found in London and exhibited at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London. Photo by Eeva-Maria Viitanen.
Finnish hunter-gatherers and snowy weather conditions
So, in Finland the preferred materials were not available and it seems that hunter-gatherers were in general not that interested in skating on ice. Also, winter precipitation in Finland comes usually as snow, even in the Stone and Bronze Ages when the climate was different from now. The winter landscape – including the frozen waters – is covered with snow. Snowless ice is sometimes available in the fall or spring, but these moments are relatively rare. For this reason, the preferred mode of winter transportation in the northern areas was skis which were designed to work in all kinds of snow covers. They have also been found from Finland and its neighboring areas starting from the Stone Age. Bone skates would have been mostly useless in the north.
Based on archaeological finds, the earliest use of bone skates can be placed in central parts of Eastern Europe. The winters there were cold enough for ice to form on rivers, lakes and ponds, but there was not a whole lot of snow. The societies in these areas adopted agriculture early on and had the preferred materials available.
What still remains uncertain is why people started skating. Early Medieval written sources suggest that bone skates were an important mode of transportation in the winter. So far no research has been done to determine whether this was really possible in the areas where skating was invented – could the skates have been used to reach fishing or hunting grounds in the winter?
Ice skating as leisure and ice skates with metal blades
It has also been suggested that ice skating was a leisure activity in the winter. Considering the relative difficulty of movement with bone skates – your hands are tied to the pole – and the need for clear ice, I find the use for fun perhaps a more likely one. And that is an interesting idea: food was probably scarce in the winter even in Eastern Europe and developing a fun winter activity that consumed precious energy is a theme that could be worth exploring.
Bone skates then spread to the rest of central and northern Europe and were used until the mid 20th century when modern metal blades replaced them for good. Metal blades might have been developed in the Benelux area in the early Medieval Period, maybe 13th to 15th centuries as documented in many classic winter landscapes by Flemish painters. The patron saint of skaters Saint Lidwina lived in Schiedam near Rotterdam in the Netherlands in the late 14th/early 15th century. She apparently got injured skating on ice with those early metal blades and this resulted in chronic and increasing health problems. She resorted to faith for help and became a healer which eventually led to canonization in 1890.
From now on let’s give the credit for the invention of bone skaters to the people who lived in Eastern Europe in the Early Bronze Age. Finns had nothing to do with it!”
Learn more about skating history and figure skating data on Eppu’s blog Fascinatio glaciei.