Since the Stone Age, people started using wedges to raise boulders far enough to insert levers. Quarrymen in Egypt later started using wedges made of bronze and wood to split rocks and huge stones.
The axes used by homo erectus used a principle similar to that of the wedge. Later, axe heads made of stone were attached to wooden handles to make more effective tools.
Archimedes described screws in the 3rd century BC, when he mentioned that they were used for pumping. They were made of wood. The Greeks and Romans employed the screw to press grapes and olives.
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