Scandinavians invented ice skating in 3000 BC
Submitted by coldrum on Monday, 31 December 2007 Page Views: 3029
DiscoveriesCountry: Finland Archaeological evidence suggests that the first skates made of animal bones date back to 3000 BC, helping people travel more widely during frozen winters in Finland, marking the start of the evolution of more sophisticated skates.Constructed of trimmed horse or cow bones, and pierced at one end and strapped to the foot with leather thongs, they were not powered by the classic skating motion but used in tandem with a long stick; skaters straddled the stick and poled themselves along.
In the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Dr Frederico Formenti and Professor Alberto Minetti of Oxford University lay out the evidence supporting the idea that the birth of ice skating took place in Southern Finland, where the number of lakes within a given area is the highest in the world.
"In Central and Northern Europe, five thousand years ago people struggled to survive the severe winter conditions and it seems unlikely that ice skating developed as a hobby," says Dr Formenti.
"As happened later for skis and bicycles, I am convinced that we first made ice skates in order to limit the energy required for our daily journeys".
In experiments on an ice rink by the Alps, the team measured the energy consumption of five retired professionals while skating on bones, showing they were relatively slow, reaching around 2.5 mph.
However, through mathematical models and computer simulations of 240 ten-kilometre (six mile) journeys, their research shows that in winter the use of bone skates on frozen lakes - around 60,000 in Finland - would have limited the energy requirements of Finnish people by 10 per cent as they zipped about.
"In order to better adapt to the severe conditions imposed by the long lasting winters, Finnish populations could benefit more than others from developing this ingenious locomotion tool."
For more, see the Telegraph.
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