Borovichev E.A. Botanical excursion on the Northern Soroya. Hammerfest, 2014.

Plants and man Ali plant species now present on the S 0 raya island are considered to arrive after the ice sheet uncovered the land approximately 10,000 years ago, it is sometimes difficult to say which species arrived by themselves and which were brought by man. Archaeological evidence of prehistoric settlement in Fmnmark dates back 10 - 12,000 years. A site with the highest concentration o f Stone Age house grounds in western Finnmark was reported in the south-east o f Sereya Island (Vorren, 2005; Sunquist, 2011), Stone Age inhabitants of Soroya were hunters, fishers and gatherers and had no domestic animals and pastures. During the Middle Ages reindeer hunting intensified with use o f trapping fences, where the reindeer were forced into a circular enclosure. Herds o f domesticated reindeer were rather small. Common Yarrow (Achillea Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca) occurs in subalpine and alpine meadows o fthe Soroya, spreadingfrom the forage hayfor cattle. Its occurrence isfavorable to the plant community because, like other leguminous plants, it enriches the soil due to its nitrogen-fixing properties Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is used in official and traditional medicine as a diaphoretic, astringent, stimulant and healingfor wounds 75