The [[Poverty Point culture]] inhabited portions of the state of [[Louisiana]] from 2000 to 1000 BCE during the [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic period]]. Many objects excavated at Poverty Point sites were made of materials that originated in distant places, including chipped stone projectile points and tools, ground stone plummets, gorgets and vessels, and shell and stone beads. Stone tools found at Poverty Point were made from raw materials which originated in the relatively nearby Ouachita and Ozark Mountains and from the much further away [[Ohio River|Ohio]] and [[Tennessee River]] valleys. Vessels were made from [[soapstone]] which came from the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachian foothills]] of [[Alabama]] and [[Georgia (U.S. State)|Georgia]]. Hand-modeled lowly fired clay objects occur in a variety of shapes including anthropomorphic figurines and cooking balls.