Ice skates were first invented around 1800 BCE, when people in ancient Scandinavia strapped flattened animal bones to their feet to travel more easily over frozen lakes and rivers.

Quick Scoop

  • The earliest ice skates we know of date to about 1800 BCE (over 3,800 years ago), found in Scandinavia and Finland.
  • These first “skates” were made from horse or cow bones , pierced and tied to the feet with leather straps, used mainly for winter travel, not sport.
  • By the 13th century , skaters began using wooden platforms with iron blades underneath, especially in places like the Netherlands.
  • True modern-style skates appeared once steel blades with sharpened edges were added, allowing skates to cut into the ice instead of just sliding on top.
  • In 1850 , E.W. Bushnell in Philadelphia created the first all-steel skate , paving the way for today’s figure, hockey, and speed skates.

In short: when people ask “when were ice skates invented,” historians usually point to those bone skates from around 1800 BCE in northern Europe as the starting line.

TL;DR: Ice skates were effectively “invented” about 1800 BCE in Scandinavia as bone runners for travel, then evolved into iron- and steel- bladed skates between the 13th and 19th centuries.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.