Prehistory { "type": "ExternalData", "service": "page", "title": "ROCEEH/Ochre.map" } Over recent decades, red ochre has played a pivotal role in discussions about the cognitive and cultural evolution of early modern humans during the African Middle Stone Age. In Africa, evidence for the processing and use of red ochre pigments has been dated by archaeologists to around 300,000 years ago, the climax of the practice coinciding broadly with the emergence of
Homo sapiens. Evidence of ochre's use in Australia is more recent, dated to 50,000 years ago, while new research has uncovered evidence in Asia that is dated to 40,000 years ago. Archeological evidence highlights that prehistoric populations picked different ochre specifically based on certain qualities such as their colour, texture, and even hardness. In parts of Southern Africa deep red-iron ochres were transported over very long distances even though there was evidence of local deposits, implying that each different pigment had a unique cultural or ritual importance to the people. The specific and purposeful movement of the ochre suggest there were many early long-distance exchange networks among the
Middle Stone Age groups (Watts 2002). (17,300 BC) from
Lascaux cave, France|thumb cave, France (
Gravettian era, 25,000 BC)|thumb A re-examination of artefacts uncovered in 1908 at
Le Moustier rock shelters in France has identified
Mousterian stone tools that were attached to grips made of ochre and
bitumen. The grips were formulated with 55% ground
goethite ochre and 45% cooked liquid bitumen to create a mouldable putty that hardened into handles. Earlier excavations at Le Moustier prevent conclusive identification of the
archaeological culture and age, but the European Mousterian style of these tools suggests they are associated with
Neanderthals during the late
Middle Paleolithic, between 60,000 and 35,000 years before present. It is the earliest evidence of compound adhesive use in Europe. Pieces of ochre engraved with abstract designs have been found at the site of the
Blombos Cave in South Africa, dated to around 75,000 years ago. "
Mungo Man" (LM3) in Australia was buried sprinkled with red ochre around 40,000 years ago. In Wales, the
Paleolithic burial called the
Red Lady of Paviland from its coating of red ochre has been dated to around 33,000 years before present. Paintings of animals made with red and yellow ochre pigments have been found in Paleolithic sites at
Pech Merle in France (ca. 25,000 years old), and the
cave of Altamira in Spain (–15,000 BC). The cave of
Lascaux has an image of a horse coloured with yellow ochre estimated to be 17,300 years old. Neolithic burials may have used red ochre pigments symbolically, either to represent a return to the earth or possibly as a form of ritual rebirth, in which the colour may symbolise blood and a hypothesised
Great Goddess. The
Gothic historian
Jordanes claimed that the ancient
Caledonians painted themselves "Iron Red", "whether by way of adornment or perhaps for some other reason". Ochre has uses other than as paint: "tribal peoples alive today . . . use either as a way to treat animal skins or else as an insect repellent, to staunch bleeding, or as protection from the sun. Ochre may have been the first medicament."
Ancient Egypt (15th century BC). In
Ancient Egypt, yellow was associated with gold, which was considered to be eternal and indestructible. The skin and bones of the gods were believed to be made of gold. The Egyptians used yellow ochre extensively in tomb painting, though occasionally they used
orpiment, which made a brilliant colour, but was highly toxic, since it was made with
arsenic. In tomb paintings, men were always shown with brown faces, women with yellow ochre or gold faces. Red ochre in Ancient Egypt was used as a rouge, or lip gloss for women. Ochre-coloured lines were also discovered on the
Unfinished obelisk at the northern region of the
Aswan Stone Quarry, marking work sites. Ochre clays were also used
medicinally in Ancient Egypt: such use is described in the
Ebers Papyrus from Egypt, dating to about 1550 BC.
Ancient Phoenicia Pigments, particularly red ochre, were essential to grave rituals in ancient Phoenician society. They were more than just cosmetics; they also had important symbolic and ritualistic connotations. With its vivid colour that was evocative of blood and energy, red ochre represented life, death, and rebirth. It also represented the desire for resurrection and the belief in an afterlife. In order to honor the deceased and get them ready for their passage to the afterlife, these pigments, particularly red ochre, were most likely applied to their body or other grave goods as part of the burial rites. “Phoenicians' love of red is highlighted by the great number of powders of this colour found in the containers. The powders were probably used to give a hue to cheeks or to lips. Besides these uses as make-up powders, we can also assume a ritual use of ointments and powders containing cinnabar or ochre, applied to the face and the forehead during preparation rituals of the bodies. The discovery of red paint traces on bones and skulls suggests that these practices were common among the Phoenicians as for other populations.” Greater-quality pigments and more intricate applications would typically indicate people of greater rank or particular significance within the community. Moreover, the presence and quality of pigments in a burial site may indicate the identity or social standing of the deceased. In addition to acting as offerings to the gods and protective symbols, pigments were employed to adorn grave goods including pottery, amulets, and other objects, so elevating the spiritual purity of the interment. The visual impact of red ochre could also have been intended to preserve the appearance of the body or make it presentable for mourning ceremonies, ensuring that the deceased was honored appropriately. This vivid colour would enhance the overall visual and emotional impact of funerary displays. In essence, the use of red ochre and other pigments in Phoenician funerary contexts highlights their cultural and symbolic importance, reflecting deep-seated beliefs about death, the afterlife, and social hierarchy, thus providing a richer understanding of Phoenician customs and values.
Ancient Greece and Rome villas and towns. Ochre was the most commonly used pigment for painting walls in the
ancient Mediterranean world. In
Ancient Greece, red ochre was called μίλτος,
míltos (hence
Miltiades: "red-haired" or "ruddy"). In
ancient Athens when
Assembly was called, a contingent of public slaves would sweep the open space of the
Agora with ropes dipped in
miltos: those citizens that loitered there instead of moving to the
Assembly area would risk having their clothes stained with the paint. This prevented them from wearing these clothes in public again, as failure to attend the Assembly incurred a fine. In England, red ochre was also known as "raddle", "reddle", or "ruddle" and was used to mark sheep and can also be used as a waxy waterproof coating on structures. The reddle was sold as a ready-made mixture to farmers and herders by travelling workers called reddlemen. In
Classical antiquity, the finest red ochre came from a Greek colony on the
Black Sea where the modern city of
Sinop in
Turkey is located. It was carefully regulated, expensive and marked by a special seal, and this colour was called sealed Sinope. Later the Latin and Italian name
sinopia was given to wide range of dark red ochre pigments. Roman
triumphators painted their faces red, perhaps to imitate the red-painted flesh of statues of the Gods. The Romans used yellow ochre in their paintings to represent gold and skin tones, and as a background colour. It is found frequently in the murals of
Pompeii.
New Zealand The
Māori people of New Zealand made extensive use of mineral ochre mixed with fish oil. Red ochre was known as Kōkōwai, and was highly sought after. Other colours, including orange, yellow, and brown were also used, and the ochre was mixed with fish oil to make a paste to smear over their bodies. One of
Captain Cook's crew members was recorded as saying: "They paint their faces with a coarse red paint, and oil or grease the head and upper part of the body". After
European settlement of New Zealand, the Māori stopped using kōkōwai on their bodies, but continued to use it for decoration and preservation of wooden canoes known as
waka, as well as buildings and tombs. The combination of kokowai and shark oil repelled
sandflies, and was believed to keep away the
patupaiarehe (supernatural beings), and the colour was regarded as sacred. They also used it as a dye, sometimes using it to dye a cloak known as the
korowai, and in their hair. The main ochre deposits were at Parapara in
Golden Bay / Mohua, which brought European enterprise to the area in the 1870s. The Washbourn family founded the New Zealand Haematite Paint Company, using the ochres as high-quality pigment. The Nelson Paint Company was the last to extract pigment from the site, in 1930. its use is most often associated with the
Beothuk, whose use of red ochre led them to be referred to as "Red Indians" by the first Europeans to Newfoundland. The Beothuk may have also used yellow ochre to colour their hair. It was also used by the
Maritime Archaic as evidenced by its discovery in the graves of over 100 individuals during an archaeological excavation at
Port au Choix. Its use was widespread at times in the
Eastern Woodlands cultural area of Canada and the US; the
Red Ocher people complex refers to a specific archaeological period in the Woodlands –400 BC. California
Native Americans such as the
Tongva and
Chumash were also known to use red ochre as body paint. Researchers diving into dark submerged caves on Mexico's
Yucatán Peninsula have found evidence of an ambitious mining operation starting 12,000 years ago and lasting two millennia for red ochre.
Renaissance During the Renaissance, yellow and red ochre pigments were widely used in painting panels and
frescoes. The colours vary greatly from region to region, depending upon whether the local clay was richer in yellowish limonite or reddish hematite. The red earth from
Pozzuoli near Naples was a salmon pink, while the pigment from
Tuscany contained manganese, making it a darker reddish brown called terra di siena, or
sienna earth. The 15th-century painter
Cennino Cennini described the uses of ochre pigments in his famous treatise on painting. In early modern
Malta, red ochre paint was commonly used on public buildings.
Colonial North America In
Newfoundland, red ochre was the pigment of choice for use in
vernacular outbuildings and work buildings associated with the
cod fishery. Deposits of ochre are found throughout Newfoundland, notably near Fortune Harbour and at Ochre Pit Cove. While earliest settlers may have used locally collected ochre, people were later able to purchase pre-ground ochre through local merchants, largely imported from
England. The dry ingredient, ochre, was mixed with some type of liquid raw material to create a rough paint. The liquid material was usually
seal oil or
cod liver oil in Newfoundland and Labrador, while
Scandinavian recipes sometimes called for
linseed oil. Red ochre paint was sometimes prepared months in advance and allowed to sit, and the smell of ochre paint being prepared is still remembered today. Variations in local recipes, shades of ore, and type of oil used resulted in regional variations in colour. Because of this, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact shade or hue of red that would be considered the traditional "
fishing stage red". In the
Bonavista Bay area one man maintained that seal oil mixed with the ochre gave the sails a purer red colour, while
cod liver oil would give a "foxy" colour, browner in hue. ==Past and continuing use==