Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 42 (1) 2014

Annotation:  The Pleistocene Peopling of the North: Paleolithic Milestones and Thresholds Horizons in Northern Eu The Levallois Mousterian Assemblages of Sindh (Pakistan) and Their Relations with the Middle Paleol Chronology of the Uralian Neolithic The Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Culture in the Irtysh Forest-Steppe, Western Siberia An Experimental Study of Percussion Technologies in the Minusinsk Basin: Percussion and Tool Types Prehistoric Wars and the Origin of Military Power (Based on Archaeological and Historical- Ethnolog Anthropomorphic Wooden Figures from the Trans-Urals Images on Metal Ware: The Graphic Art of Northwestern Siberia and the Cis-Urals Seventeenth Century Moscow Tiles in Russia Female Ornaments of the Xiongnu-Xianbei Age from Ulug-Choltukh, the Edigan River Valley, Gorny Alta Kayakers Near Scotland’s Northern Shores at the Turn of the 17th–18th Centuries: Main Theories of O Bichura Village (Transbaikalia): Foundation and Population Growth (18th–Late 20th Century) Trepanation Among the Early Nomads of Gorny Altai: A Multidisciplinary Study On the Biological Distinctness of the Pit-Grave (Yamnaya) People in the Northwestern Caspian: Crania   

Kayakers Near Scotland’s Northern Shores at the Turn of the 17th–18th Centuries: Main Theories of Origin

D.A. Trynkina.

Late 17th century observers mentioned having seen people sailing kayaks off the Orkney Islands. The local people called them Finnmen. The question as to who those people were and how they could possibly have reached Northern Scotland has been raised more than once. The kayakers were believed to be either Sami, Eskimos or Sikhirtya, the legendary predecessors of the Nenets on the northern coast of Russia. The objective of this article is to analyze the sources available and describe possible approaches to elucidating the issue.

Keywords: Scotland, Orkney Islands, kayaks, Finnmen, Sami, Eskimos, Sikhirtya.