Well into the 20th century, the Sámi people used hidden food caches, in places where essential food would stay cool for extended periods of time. Within, reindeer meat was wrapped in birch bark, while reindeer milk was stored in jars or kegs. The cache was covered with stone to protect it from animals.
These food caches often consisted of a dug pit covered by a stone slab; in some cases, stone chambers were built above ground.
The food cache at Storskardet was unusual, in that it was strategically placed on a ridge where early spring snow melt made the cache accessible.
Marit Lifjell spent many summers in the Sámi camp at Finnstumoen. The food cache here was probably used to store meat. Anton Lifjell, a reindeer herder who frequented the area, said that just below the cache there used to be an old turf hut (goahti) that was in use as recently as 1914. One of the planks found on this site was inscribed with the year 1841.
