Traditional sailing ships, as opposed to vernacular boats, evolved to consist of certain types of vessels that couldbe produced in the same way in different countries and were also sold between countries. They were usuallyengaged in longer voyages which often resulted in an international crew. The traditional sailing ships that sailinternationally today are still characterised by international crews. In my thesis I argue that traditional Westernsailing ships are part of a historically transnational maritime culture, and that their significance as transnationalcultural heritage lives on today. At the same time, traditional sailing ships have much to contribute to todays andfuture society. They are kind to maritime life, while proving to be useful instruments for achieving better mentalhealth, teamwork, and learning seamanship. Unfortunately, the great potential and importance of traditional shipsas transnational cultural heritage is rarely acknowledged, as today's heritage discourse is still strongly influencedby the hegemonic cultural discourse that author Laurajane Smith calls Authorised heritage discourse.Furthermore, today's maritime rules create both practical and economic difficulties for traditional sailing ships,as today's maritime rules are written for modern motorised ships that have completely different physical andeconomic conditions. Through interviews with primarily employees on the ships Götheborg and Tres Hombres,it appears that the greatest challenges are linked to the national regulations, and that there is a great need forpoliticians and officials to get involved in creating rules that are adapted to traditional ships. In addition, moremaritime officials with knowledge of sailing vessels are needed to achieve better safety when handling traditionalsailing vessels.Since traditional sailing ships often sail internationally, it is important that the regulations in different countriesare harmonised. One conclusion is that this is something that should be dealt with by the EU as the activities ofsailing ships are a common transnational cultural heritage that can contribute to more cooperation between theirmember countries and to strengthen international relations. / Traditionella segelfartyg till skillnad från allmogebåtar, utvecklades till att bestå av vissa fartygstyper som kundeproduceras på samma sätt i olika länder och även säljas mellan länder. De var oftast engagerade i längreseglingar vilket gärna ledde till en internationell besättning. De traditionella segelfartyg som seglar internationelltidag är fortfarande präglade av internationella besättningar. I min uppsats argumenterar jag för att traditionellavästerländska segelfartyg är del av en historiskt nationsöverskridande maritim kultur, och att deras betydelsesom nationsöverskridande kulturarv lever vidare än idag. Traditionella segelfartyg har samtidigt mycket att bidramed till dagens och framtidens samhälle. De är skonsamma mot havsmiljön, samtidigt som de har visat sig varaanvändbara instrument för att uppnå bättre psykisk hälsa, samarbetsförmåga, och att lära sig sjömanskap.Tyvärr uppmärksammas sällan traditionsfartygens stora potential och vikt som nationsöverskridande kulturarv,eftersom dagens kulturarvsdiskurs fortfarande är starkt präglad av den hegemoniska kulturdiskurs som forskarenLaurajane Smith kallar för Authorised heritage discourse.Samtidigt skapar, dagens regler för sjöfarten både praktiska och ekonomiska svårigheter för de traditionellasegelfartygen eftersom dagens sjöfartslagstiftning är skriven för moderna motordrivna fartyg som har helt andrafysiska och ekonomiska förutsättningar. Genom intervjuer med i första hand anställda på fartygen Götheborgoch Tres Hombres, framkommer att de största utmaningarna är kopplade till de nationella regelverken, och attdet finns ett stort behov av att politiker och tjänstemän engagerar sig i att skapa regler som är anpassadetraditionella fartyg. Samtidigt behövs det fler maritima tjänstemän med kunskap om segelfartyg för att kunnauppnå bättre säkerhet vid hantering av traditionella segelfartyg.Eftersom traditionella segelfartyg ofta seglar internationellt är det viktigt att regelverken i olika länderöverensstämmer. En slutsats är att detta är något som borde behandlas av EU då segelfartygen är ettnationsöverskridande kulturarv som kan bidra till mer samarbete mellan deras medlemsländer och styrkainternationella relationer.

Local identity (Swedish: ortskaraktär) has played a big part in shaping the view of crafts in Sweden during the last century until today. This rapport investigates the history of local identity in the Dalecarlia region, specifically looking at local bobbin lace traditions.  The work endeavours to see how the bobbin lace is made today, what importance the local identity has had on the survival of the craft, and how important local expressions within the lace remains today, as well as why it is still important. To investigate this relationship between local identity and crafts the rapport makes use of primary sources in the form of interviews with active local bobbin lacemakers. The work also relies on archival material on order to put the interviews into a historical context. These archives range from the national to the regional and local level. The material is analysed using the theoretical base of authorised heritage discourse and performativity, and a hermeneutical approach informs the method of analysis.  The rapport concludes that local identity, “ortskaraktär” remains a key factor to the survival of the lace making tradition. But it also recognises that to ensure the continued survival of the craft, a revival might be necessary. The rapport proposes recontextualizing the use of the craft, making it more popular beyond use in folk costume, or a recognition of the craft on the list of immaterial cultural heritages in Sweden. Official recognition might lead to resources being directed towards the preservation of the tradition.

The thesis discusses a category of cultural heritage that has been labelled "Sami circular offering sites", aiming to establish some basic facts about their origin, distribution and use, as well as their cultural and socio-political context and influence. The stone enclosures in question have been interpreted as Sami offering sites since the mid-19th century, but a discourse analysis of the research history indicates that this may have been based on a scholarly hypothesis rather than ethnographic or archaeological evidence. Furthermore it is questioned if all the structures that are currently included in this category are in fact remains of the same cultural practice. This is investigated through surveys of 81 suggested circular offering sites in Norway, two excavations and analyses of the find material. The large stone enclosures in counties Finnmark and Troms that were first categorised in this way prove to have quite consistent builds and measurements and a find material mainly dating between the 13th and 17th centuries. These structures are here labelled type 1. In contrast, constructions that have later been added to the category, particularly in other areas, have other and less consistent characteristics and seem to include remains of a range of different activities. They are here divided into two generic types 2 and 3. The thesis further discusses alternative interpretations for the type 1 structures, concluding that their materiality, construction, location, topography and finds are consistent with archaeological, historical and ethnographic evidence for wolf traps. Their distribution indicates a regional Sami cultural practice related to inland winter habitation and travel routes, while also apparently coinciding with the Russian/Karelian taxation area in northern Norway in the Middle Ages. Thus the builds may have been inspired by the fur trade or other activities of the latter groups. It is uncertain when exactly the installations fell into disuse, as datings are calibrated to AD 1450-1650. The abandonment could be related to the decline of Novgorod as a fur trade centre, Russian loss of taxation rights in northern Norway, increased Swedish impact in the inland areas and Norwegian activity along the coasts, which all led to changes in administration, taxation, trade patterns and demand for furs. The contemporary decimation of the wild reindeer population, increased reindeer herding and introduction of new weapons like crossbows, guns and foothold traps, may all have made permanent trapping installations less useful. The sites may, however, have gone out of use at different times. Certain finds of marrow split bones, very recent coins and other objects suggest a later reconceptualisation of some structures as offering sites, whether as a local explanation or inspired by the later scholarly definition. Throughout the thesis, the construction and distribution of the archaeological category and the preference for the ritual or religious interpretation are discussed as results of specific socio-political contexts, where stereotypical notions about Sami identity and culture have had a strong impact. The thesis explores how academic and other narratives influence each other within certain discourses of power and indigenous "rights and rites", and the continuous mutual impact on individual actions and emotions through networks of people, power and things. The present reinterpretation challenges existing academic and local narratives. It is based on the materiality of the structures, but the offering site explanation is not positively refuted. Yet, as part of an authorised heritage discourse, the present statement is more likely to impact future categorisation and practices than other narratives within other discourses, expressing a persistent and inherent power inequality. This may be ethically problematic in the context of an indigenous minority, but it may also be argued that the role of the archaeologist expert is precisely to expose the insisting materiality of the past and the power/knowledge networks that promote specific narratives about it.