Economic adaptation among the coast Sami population in Finnmark c. 1700

The article is a follow‐up of an earlier article about the animal husbandry among the Norwegian population in Finnmark c. 1685–1705 (AB No. 2, 1984). This time the topic is economic adaptation among the coast Sami population of Finnmark, with an examination of the animal husbandry as one part, but seen in connection with the other industries as well, like fishing, reindeer nomadism, hunting and craft. The source material are the probate records, a material which to a very little extent has been taken into use in order to throw light on the economic history of Finnmark in older times. One aim of the article is to give a synchronic picture of the variation in economic adaptation among the coast Sami in the different parts of Finn‐mark ‐ another is, if possible, to give a contribution to the debate about the chronology and character of the major economic transition among the Sami, which is supposed to have taken place in the 16th and 17th centuries.