 Archaeological studies have shown that reindeer and the hunting of reindeer on the Hardangervidda was well established in the iron (Viking) age and Middle Ages.However, the current reindeer herds on the Hardangervidda plateau do not originate from the old Reindeer population which occupied all the high plateaus in pre-historian times, but the present herd is a result of early 1900 initiatives with reindeer herding on the Hardangervidda.For this both reindeer and sami (herders) were brought to the area.