Long-distance trade was a hallmark of Poverty Point culture. Like most other aspects of the culture, there is no consensus about the nature of the trade. Archaeologists argue about identifications and sources of trade materials, especially various flints, but no one questions that many materials were moved over long distances. Some materials originated more than 700 miles from the Poverty Point site, and extreme distances of more than 1000 miles sometimes separate sources from final destinations. Trade materials were quite varied and derived from many areas of the eastern United States, including the Ouachita, Ozark, and Appalachian mountains and the Upper Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes (Figure 13). Poverty Point trade dealt primarily in rocks and minerals. At least so it seems. If other things were also circulated, they left no remains. Rocks do make good sense, however. Indians of the day made most of their tools out of rocks; they had no metal-working technology. Rocks do occur in the heartland of Poverty Point culture but mainly as gravels or as outcrops of crumbly sandstones, ironstones, and other soft materials, ill-suited for chipping. While local resources could have furnished (and did furnish for many Lower Mississippi cultures and many periods) all the essential materials for craft and tool “industries,” most of the materials imported by Poverty Point groups were better and prettier. They were obviously highly desired, and the quantities in which they were circulated shows that consumer demand was high and supply systems efficient. [Illustration: Figure 13. Areas of Poverty Point Trade Materials.] POVERTY POINT A Copper, Banded Slate B Gray Northern Flint C Galena, Ozark Chert D Black Bighorn Chert E Novaculite, Hematite, Magnetite F Quartz, Fluorite G Pebble Chert H Catahoula Sandstone I Yellow Pebble Chert J Brown Sandstone K Red Jasper, Greenstone, Quartzite, Granite L Steatite, Schist, Pickwick Chert The main question about Poverty Point trade concerns how materials were moved from one place to another. When this question first arose, one suggestion was that gathering expeditions were sent out from the big Poverty Point site itself (Ford and Webb 1956:125-126). Later, other means were proposed, means ranging from the activities of wandering merchants to ceremonial exchange systems connected with widespread festivals or religious proselytizing.