Unesco lists Viking-era wooden sailboats on heritage list

A man repairs a 10m wooden row boat, built in the Nordic clinker boat tradition, at the Viking Ship Museum's boatyard in Roskilde, Denmark. Photo: AP

For thousands of years, wooden sailboats allowed the peoples of Northern Europe to spread trade, influence and sometimes war across seas and continents.

In December, the UN’s culture agency added Nordic "clinker boats" to its list of traditions that represent the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden jointly sought the Unesco designation.