A Neolithic polished axe
This stone axe was discovered in Greece (Larissa, Thessaly) and is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of New York. These type of tools are also found in the Solent area where they were used about 5,000 years ago to help remove trees and create cleared land for farming. Woodland would also have been deliberately set on fire to aid this clearance.
Farming of crops and animals was developed as a human activity about 11,000 years ago in Western Asia, and spread globally over the next few thousand years.
Archaeological evidence and polar ice core data show how carbon particles were released into the atmosphere, affecting the quality of air locally and with lighter particles travelling considerable distances.
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