Vikings etc do it in the movies all the time - they must have had very active coopers!
Coopers Hill is famous for it's cheese rolling.
With that story set up, we learn that the grand thieves the Coopers (Sly's family) had a vault where all their treasures were hidden.
It has small leaves and fibrous bark, the wood is light, soft and easily-worked, and very durable in contact with the soil, and is much used for boat-building and for making fences and coopers' staves.
Until recently, all draft beers were delivered to pubs in oak casks, and each brewery employed coopers to make and repair them.