Yeah, same. the article has another picture of Siberian uncle with it strapped to his back and enemy arrows sticking out while he’s shooting, and it says:

The researchers also reconstructed the large shield. It was originally made from plates of animal bone, probably from a type of elk called an Altai wapiti (Cervus canadensis sibiricus), that seem to have been glued onto a leather base.

A couple other thoughts:

• at night, if you lean it up against a tree I bet you have half-decent rain protection.
• in battle I wonder if you could plant them in the ground for protective cover.
• in emergency, maybe you could use it as a sled to drag things behind you?