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they had during the Middle Archaic Period. However, uncertainty caused by the fluctuating <br />environmental conditions, coupled with increasing population densities, may have led to <br />changes in social organization and a greater necessity to define group territories and home <br />ranges. This may have been due to pressures from outside groups trying to relocate as a <br />result of adverse environmental conditions in other areas. <br />One final aspect of importance during this critical period concerns the introduction <br />or development of the bow and arrow, a major technological innovation over the preceding <br />atlatl and dart. Exactly when this change occurred is controversial, but the majority of the <br />available data indicate ca. 300 AD. <br />Projectile Points <br />The primary technological marker of the Archaic era is the atlatl dart point. The <br />atlatl dart point is significantly smaller than the lanceolate point of the Paleoindian era, and <br />manufacture appears to have employed less specialized technologies (Frison 1991:395). <br />Furthermore, a diversity of haft element forms becomes visible; they are generally <br />categorized into four broad groups: lanceolate, stemmed, side-notched and corner-notched. <br /> "Lanceolate styles that seem to be restricted to the Archaic era include a series of <br />largely unnamed points that are relatively thin in cross section and generally less than 1.5 <br />cm wide and 8 cm in length" (Reed and Metcalf 1999:85). A variety of forms is evident and <br />includes morphological attributes such as concave, convex, or straight basal edges as well as <br />straight or convex blade edges. Also, there may be a hint of constriction or of notches on <br />the lateral margins near the base (Reed and Metcalf 1999:85). Ground bases and blade <br />edges are generally rare and specimens demonstrate a less careful manufacture technology. <br />Contexts for lanceolate styles typically range from about 7000 to 4500 BC. A common <br />Archaic lanceolate style is the McKean Lanceolate, of the McKean Complex, dating from <br />after 3800 BC to as late as 1200 BC (Frison 1991:89). Actually, four projectile point types <br />are diagnostic of the McKean: McKean Lanceolate, Mallory, Duncan and Hanna. Although <br />there is data to support the co-occurrence of these points and therefore that of a techno- <br />complex, there is also ample evidence that the former two often appear in tandem and the <br />latter two generally replace them near the end of the period. Frison makes this case using <br />the Signal Butte site in western Nebraska, which had McKean Lanceolate points in <br />association with Mallory-type side-notched points in dated levels from 4550-4170 BP <br />[~3200- 3000 BC] (ibid.). Frison (1991:24) refers to sites that indicate the stemmed indented <br />base points such as the Duncan and Hanna of the McKean Complex roughly date from 2550 <br />to 1200 BC; however, Reed and Metcalf (1999:85) obtained dates of 3250 to 1500 BC for the <br />Duncan and Hanna points in the Yampa Valley of Colorado. <br /> Other stemmed points include a variety of styles ranging from contracting stem <br />points generally subsumed under Gypsum, Elko Contracting Stem, and Gatecliff <br />Contracting Stem categories; and a wide range of unnamed points with straight to convex to <br />distinctly rounded bases" (Reed and Metcalf 1999:85). Contracting stem points from the <br />Great Basin and northern Colorado Plateau evince temporal distributions from about 3800 <br />23