ABSTRACT
In the course of the fourth century A.D. climatic conditions in western Norway changed very considerably, causing a crisis in the extensive agriculture of those regions. The peoples there had to find some other mode of livelihood, and so many of them migrated. Great numbers of farms were deserted, some of which have since been excavated by archaeologists. Reindeer antler is first class material for numbers of tools - for “winches”, fish hooks, prongs for fish spears, harpoon heads, knife handles, and many other indispensable articles, which were found in overwhelming quantities at Kjelmøy. Altogether more than 1500 articles and fragments of articles have been found, the majority of them made of reindeer antler and bone. The sealing equipment - fish hooks, harpoon heads, “winches” and other things - and the ceramics, even the patterns with which the vessels are decorated, are based on North-Norwegian traditions from the Stone Age.
