Animal bone ice skates — made 3,500 years ago — found in tomb in China, photos show
Nestled between a river and a mountain in northwestern China sat a tomb. Surrounded by stones and buried by dirt, the treasure-filled tomb remained unopened for millennia. Not anymore.
Archaeologists excavated the Jiren Taigoukou Ruins in the Nilka County of Xinjiang region and found the ruins divided in two distinct sections, the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a Monday, Feb. 27, news release via Xinhua News Agency.
Ruins on the northern portion of the site revealed a residential area, experts said. The southern portion, however, had a large stone platform.
Excavating the stone platform, archaeologists identified it as a 3,500-year-old tomb complex. Inside the tomb, researchers unearthed animal bone ice skates — the first ever found in China, the release said.
The 3,500-year-old skates were made of ox and horse bones, archaeologists said.
Their design is quite different from modern-day ice skates but very similar to ancient bone skates found in Europe, the Global Times reported.
The earliest ice skates were made from a variety of animal bones. Metal runners later came into use and were fixed to a wooden base that was tied to the wearer’s foot with leather straps, according to Britannica. The “all-steel skate” replaced the “cumbersome wooden footplate” during the mid-19th century.
The Museum of London in December shared a photo on Twitter of a bone ice skate with added leather straps. These skates were made in medieval Europe, the museum said.
Both pairs of skates have a double set of holes on the front and back. The front of the skates is more pointed, the back more blunted, photos show.
Ice skates weren’t the only items found in the tomb at the Jiren Taigoukou Ruins. Archaeologists found over 500 items buried inside the grave, the release said. This included pottery, stone tools, animal bones and some bronze items.
Researchers also unearthed 11 wooden wheels and over 30 pieces of wooden carts and carriages. Photos show these fragmented but recognizable artifacts.
“Judging by the scattered pieces, we believe that these wooden wagon parts were deserted by their owners, and detached on purpose, and buried during establishing the tomb,” the head archaeologist Ruan Qiurong told the Global Times.
The tomb likely belonged to a “noble herding family,” the Global Times reported. It is one of the largest and most complete Bronze Age tombs found in Xinjiang, the release said.
Nilka County is in the autonomous region of Xinjiang and about 2,140 miles northwest of Beijing. The county is near the China-Kazakhstan border.
Google Translate and Baidu Translate were used to translate news releases from the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Animal bone ice skates — made 3,500 years ago — found in tomb in China, photos show."
