 Further, some critics questioned how the cutting of such an old tree was necessary given the topic Currey was studying.Since the Little Ice Age started no more than 600 years ago, many trees could presumably have provided the information he was after for that time period.However, in Currey's original report (Currey, 1965) he refers to the Little Ice Age as encompassing the period from 2000 BC to the present, thus defining the Age over a much longer time period than is currently accepted.