Abalone shells found at Mississippian sites suggest contact with which region?

• A. Atlantic
• B. Pacific
• C. Indian Ocean region
• D. Arctic

Answer: (B)

Abalone shells coming from the Pacific coast show that Mississippian communities participated in long-distance exchange networks that reached far beyond their local region. Abalone is native to the Pacific Ocean, so finding it at inland Mississippian sites indicates contact with people from the Pacific or goods that travelled from there. This demonstrates how widespread trade networks were in prehistoric North America, linking the Southeast with distant coastal regions. The other regions don’t fit because abalone isn’t native to the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, or Arctic coasts, making direct sourcing from those areas unlikely.