How a Medieval Peasant Chopped Firewood versus a Modern Peasant 

In the Medieval age wood was harvested from coppice or branches. This is because saws were incredibly expensive and hard to make and used only for specific work of value, not firewood. Firewood had to be chopped by axe and billhook and therefore smaller diameter is easier to manage and was often bundled into 'faggots'. Larger wood would be reserved for construction and furniture. I use the same techniques for cutting kindling from brushwood that would otherwise go to waste.