This time of year with the promise of Spring just on the horizon, our cavemen ancestors would have been packing away their winter gear of heavy furs, rough hewn sleds and horse bone ice skates. The most ancient of these blades, found in the frigid parts of Northern Europe where frozen lakes predominate the landscape, were created from the metatarsi of horses.  
  
The bones were strapped on the skater’s feet held in place by leather strips slipped through holes. Scientists from the University of Milan and Oxford determined that equine bone skates were developed over 3,000 years ago to facilitate journeys while limiting the energy expended by ancient travelers, particularly hunters and fishermen. Researchers recently tested the metabolic output of subjects wearing fabricated bone skates and concluded that utilizing bone skates would conserve ten percent more of a human traveler’s energy as opposed to trudging through deep snow with cumbersome makeshift snow shoes.