Hmm... the Archimedes screw was a thing since 3rd century B.C., so they may have. You'd be pretty "screwed" without one to move the water from a pond to your irrigation system lol. And then there are thumbscrews for torture. Wouldn't want to get screwed by those lol

I will admit, the language I use could definitely use some revision. The etymology of screwed as in to mean "in a bind" seems to originate from around the 1600's to 1700s. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind when I do larger works. I find that if I think too much doing these freewrites I end up getting bogged down in the details and editing while writing. Endlessly editing something that's not meant to be perfect lol.