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Middle Archaic [6000-3000 BC] |
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Morrow Mountain I projectile points are dated to the early part of the Middle Archaic (1, 6, 7).
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 Morrow Mountain I point with impact flake scar. |
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As this remarkable and sophisticated animation shows, there's a decent possibility that the above point brought home the bacon, or should I say venison. If you look carefully you can see a "flake scar" starting at the tip and traveling about 1/3 of length of the projectile point. This kind of damage is caused by a head-on impact... |
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Morrow Mountain II projectile points have long pointy stems in comparison with the Morrow Mountain I predecessor. These points were made during the Middle Archaic (6, 7). |
| Now the Middle Archaic saw many changes. People seemed to stop moving around as much. Populations increased and people started eating all kinds of stuff, especially seafood (river-food). People who study stuff attribute these changes in part to hypsithermal conditions that happened around 4000 BC. Also, it got drier. Some think these drier conditions caused rivers to slow down creating better seafood (river-food) habitat... (1) |
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| Evidence for the more sedentary lifestyles includes heavier tools and evidence of year round dwellings, like the presence of central air and gas heat... well, anyway, there was something about the dwellings/structures that created an aura of permanence (whatever) (1). | Halifax points probably post-date Guilford points (6)  Halifax Point |
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Guilford style projectile points are unusual because they don't seem to have evolved from previous styles (6)... |
| The Middle Archaic passed into the Late Middle Archaic, or could it be the Early Late Archaic (sorry). Anyway, many experts think that the archaeological records contain evidence that trade was on the rise. Population increases (need for boundaries), and/or expanded use of localized resources, and/or "whatever" was leading to a more sedentary life style (or at least people started to use year-round "base camps"). "They" think that societies up to this point were fairly egalitarian. But the times were a changin' (1). |
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 Note the resharpenning on this one... cool, eh! |
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Guilford points have been found in strafigr... stratfragr... stragrfa... buried at the same level as chipped axe heads like this one. This one shows little if any wear (6).
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 Guilford or preform? |
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