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

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.