This thesis examines the distribution of prehistoric hunting structures for reindeer in the mountain area of central Norway. This study focuses on two different main types of hunting structures: stone bricked archery position and pitfalls. Pitfalls can be divided in two groups: stone bricked pitfalls or pitfalls dug in the ground. This thesis wants to review a theory introduced by Øystein Mølmen, who has suggested that there exist two main types of hunting structures. One type consists of a dense concentration of archery positions in a terrain stripe of the coastal mountain area from Geiranger in south to Sunndal in the north. In the mountain area further east, the dominant hunting structures consists however of large pitfall trapping systems. As a part of this study, all known information concerning hunting structures for trapping reindeer in central Norway will be presented on a map showing various concentration and distribution of the two main types of hunting structures within the research area. This information will be used to review the distribution of the different types of hunting structures, and where the boundary between the different hunting structures may be identified. Interpretation will focus on the location of the hunting structures in relation to known migration patterns and reindeer behavior to see if these elements can explain how the hunting might have taken place and why there exist a different distribution of hunting structures in the western mountain area compared to the east. The age of the hunting structure will also be discussed. Have the archery positions and the pitfalls been used in different periods, are they contemporary or perhaps reused over a longer time period? In this study, potential variations in social organizing behind the hunt and whether the hunting structures might have been used by different culture groups will also be mentioned. This might explain the different geographical distribution of hunting structures within the research area. In this connection various aspects regarding an ongoing ethnicity debate and conflict in the Trollheimen area will be mention. The conflict concern whether the Sami people have a historical claim to use the mountain area of Trollheimen as grazing land for domesticated reindeer, and how the archaeological science works and stands in this political conflict.

In the mountains around Nord-Gudbrandsdalen there are at least fifteen sites where herds of reindeer were trapped in a mass trapping system. The reindeer were chased towards the traps, which were mainly built of converging wooden fences, leading into a stall where the animals were captured and killed. Some of the sites are thought to have accommodated several hundred reindeer. Stalls that were built with a wall of stone are well preserved today. At two other sites the animals were simply driven into a deep canyon and a lake, and killed there. The mass trapping sites are mainly located near the valleys with settlement or farms, but are also built close to a migration route used by the reindeer. It was also important to construct the traps in terrain which hid the fences and stalls, encouraging the animals to see the trap site as an easy route to escape from the people behind. Mass trapping systems around Nord-Gudbrandsdalen are mainly dated between 900 and 1300 AD. None are known after 1300 AD, suggesting this method of hunting had stopped by this time. Mass trapping seemed to be organized by many people, and the profits were certainly high, when the stock of reindeer was good. We believe this was almost like an industry, and that it was organised and supervised by the king or local chieftains. The reason of catching so many reindeer at the same time in one place was clearly to get valuable products to use in trade (see “vedlegg 5”) Skin and antler were popular products in Europe. Dried meat and fat from the animals could also be exported. The mass trapping sites share similarities with each other, but all sites are also unique. One important question is if the construction changes through time. It is possible that earlier sites have a simple construction, with later sites larger and more complex. Some of the biggest traps have corrals that could have kept the reindeer alive for many days, allowing the people to slaughter the animals over a longer period of time.