Dear Agnes, you can consult this papers:

- López Padilla et al. 2012, Ocre y cinabrio en el registro funerario de El Argar. http://tp.revistas.csic.es/index.php/tp/article/viewFile/626/648

- Delibes de Castro, G. 2000: “Cinabrio, huesos pinta-dos en rojo y tumbas de ocre: ¿prácticas de embal-samamiento en la Prehistoria?”. En M. Olcina yJ. A. Soler (coords.): Scripta in honorem Enrique A. Llobregat Conesa, Instituto de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert. Alicante: 223-236

- García Borja et al. 2006, Nuevos datos sobre el uso de materia colorante durante el Neolítico antiguo en las comarcas centrales valencianas: http://ojs.uv.es/index.php/saguntum/article/view/1040

In this papers you can find bibliography about the use of ocre or other colorants in Prehistory

Red Ochre it was used also in the Eurasian Early and Middle Bronze Age, expecially in the Yamnaya burials. There are a huge literature on Yamnaya, but for the instance I can suggest you a few titles like:

- Frînculeasa, A., Preda, B., Negrea, O., Soficaru, A.D. 2013, Bronze Age Tumulary Graves Recently Investigated in Northern Wallachia, Dacia, N.S. 57, 23-63.

- Häusler, A. 1974, Die Gräber der älteren Ockergrabkultur zwischen Ural und Dneper, Berlin.

- Heyd, V. 2011, Yamnaya groups and tumuli West of the Black Sea, in Ancestral Lanscapes, TMO 58, Lyon, 535-555.

- Motzoi-Chicideanu, I. 2011, Obiceiuri funerare în epoca bronzului la Dunărea Mijlocie şi Inferioară, vol. I-II, Bucarest.

- Rassamakin, Y.Y, Nikolova, A., V. 2008, Carpathian Imports in the Graves of the Yamnaya Culture on the Lower Dnieper. Some Problems of Chronology in the Black Sea Steppes during the Early Bronze Age, in: Import and Imitation in Archaeology, Biehl, P.F., Rassamakin, Y. Ya. (eds.), Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeeraumes 11, Lagenweißbach, 51-87.

- Schuster, C., Morintz, A., Kogălniceanu, R., Ştefan C., Comşa, A., El-Susi, G., Constantin, M., Constantin, C., Mureşan, G. 2011, Cercetările arheologice de pe tronsonul Cernavodă-Medgidia al autostrăzii A2. Tumulul nr. 3, Târgovişte.

- Yarovoy, E.V. 1985, Drevneshie skotovodchrskie plemena Yugo-Zapada SSSR (klassifikaciya pogrebal'nogo obryada), Kishinev.

My best regards,

Sorin A.

I have found nodules of red ochre in pre-European contact campsites in northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba. Occasionally, ceramic vessels were "washed" with a red ochre stain; this has shown up in the archaeological record. We have numerous pictographs in Manitoba, Canada, with many occurring within the boreal shield country on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. These are all of red ochre paste consisting of crushed ochre and sturgeon oil. While some Elders state that the pictographs were created by medicine men or the Mamagwesiwuk (little rock people) there is historic reference to the paintings (e.g. Leach 1929). There is also some ethnographic literature, see Steinbring.

Hello Gabriel, thank you for sending the links. I was fascinated by the red ochre within the burial context as documented in Padilla etal. An interesting question arose regarding the original use of ochre that appeared interesting: whether the ochre originated from the body (body ornamentation), or if it was added post-mortem, perhaps to the bones.

Dear Agnes,

Red ochre was used frequently by the Neolithic and Chalcolithic communities from South-Eastern Europe (c. 7000-3800 BC). The red or yellow ochre was used both in domestic activities (e.g. painting of the ceramic pots, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines or walls of houses), and in the funerary practices (inhumation graves). In case of inhumation graves ocher was used as small lumps (deposited near skeletons or in ceramic pots), and as powder (deposited over the bodies of the deceased or on their clothes).

A complete review of all funerary data from Romania you can find in my book The Catalogue of the Neolithic and Eneolithic Funerary Findings from Romania (see my RG page).

For Bulgaria you can see the following titles:

K. Băčvarov 2002, Settlements with intramural burials and extramural cemeteries from the Karanovo I-V periods, in M. Lichardus-Itten, J. Lichardus, V. Nikolov (eds.), Beitrage zu jungsteinzeitlichen Forschungen in Bulgarien, band 74, Bonn, p. 95-98.

K. Băčvarov 2003, Neolitni Pogrebalni Obredi, Sofia.

H. Todorova 1978, The Eneolithic Period in Bulgaria in the Fifth MilleniumB.C., BAR International series, no. 49, Oxford.

H. Todorova 1982, Kupferzeitliche Siedlungen in Nordostbulgarien. Materialien zur Allegemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäologie, Band 13, München.

H. Todorova (ed.) 2002a, Durankulak, Band II. Die Prähistorischen Gräberfelder, Teil 1 & 2, Sofia.

Also, attached you find some articles about using ocher in Neolithic and Chalcolithic period in Bulgaria.

Best wishes,

Catalin

Hello Sorin,

Thank you for all the links to very informative papers on ochre use, particularly in association with burials and the funerary context.

All the best,

Agnes

One of the oldes known red ochre use is located in SW France Combe Grenal and is work of Neanderthal. Please check Soressi, M. & F. d’Errico 2007 or Simply tape in google Neanderthal red ochre use

Sometimes ochre has been used for hafting activities or had prophylactic features in hide processing (tanning)

For example:

Audouin, F. and H. Plisson (1982). "Les ocres et leurs témoins au Paléolithique en France: enquête et expériences sur leur validité archéologique." Cahiers du Centre de Recherche Préhistorique de l´Université de Paris VI 8: 33-80.

Baffier, D., S. Beyries, et al. (1991). Histoire d´ocre à Pincevent. La question des lames ocrées. 25 ans d´études technologiques en Préhistoire. XIe Recontres Internationales d´Archéologie et d´Histoire d´Antibes. APDCA. Juan-les-Pins: 215-234.

Lombard, M. (2006). "Direct evidence for the use of ochre in the hafting technology of Middle Stone Age tools from Sibudu Cave." Southern African Humanities 18(1): 57-67.

Microscopy was performed on tools obtained from the Middle Stone Age deposits of Sibudu Cave because previous observations suggested that there might be a possible functional role for ochre at the site. Analyses of the distribution patterns of ochre residues conducted on post-Howiesons Poort points and Howiesons Poort segments from Sibudu Cave show that ochre was an integral part of the hafting technologies for the duration of these techno-complexes. Close associations between ochre and resin on these tools strengthen the hypothesis that ground ochre was probably mixed into the adhesives that were used to glue the tools to hafts. The evidence presented here expands our understanding of the versatility and value of pigmentatious material in prehistory; it is not intended to be an alternative or replacement hypothesis for its possible symbolic role.

Lombard, M. (2007). "The gripping nature of ochre: the association of ochre with Howiesons Poort adhesives and Later Stone Age mastics from South Africa." Journal of Human Evolution 53: 406-419.

Philibert, S. (1993). Quelle interprétation fonctionnelle pour les grattoirs ocrés de la Balma Margineda? Traces et fonction: les gestes retrouvés. P. C. Anderson, S. Beyries, H. Plisson and M. Otte, ERAUL. 50: 131-138.

Philibert, S. (1994). "L´ocre et le traitement des peux: révision d´une conception tradicionnell par l´analyse fonctionnelle des grattoirs ocrés de la Balma Margineda (Andorre)." L´Anthropology 98: 447-453.

Weinstein-Evron, M. and S. Ilani (1994). "Provenance of ochre in the Natufian layers of el-Wad Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel." Journal of Archaeological Science 21: 461-467.

Several types of ochre fragments have been found in the Natufian layers of el-Wad Cave. The same types also occur in iron oxide veins and in alluvial deposits in the area. The ochre was evidently used to extract or produce red haematite pigment, residues of which were found on basalt pestles in the cave. Experimental heating of ochre from different Carmel outcrops produced a red pigment of various colours and hues through transformation of goethite to haematite. Though no positive indication for ochre-burning by the Natufians was found, it is known that they used haematite pigment and that they possessed both the raw material (goethite-calcite type ochre) and the technical means to manufacture it artificially.

Beyries, S. (1983). Fonction et mode d´utilisation d´une série de lames ocrées capsiennes. Traces d´utilisation sur les outils en pierres néolithiques du Proche Orient. M.-C. Cauvin. Lyon, GIS-Maison de l´Orient. 5: 135-142.

Beyries, S. and M.-L. Inizan (1982). "Typologie, ocre et fonction." Studia Praehistorica Belgica 2: 313-322.

Bintz, P. and (sous la direction de) (1995). "Les grottes Jean-Pierre 1 et 2 à Saint-Thibaud-de-Couze (Savoie). Paléoenvironnement et culture du Tardiglaciaire à l'Holocène dans les Alpes du Nord. La culture matérielle (seconde partie)." Gallia Préhistoire 37: 155-328.

Inizan, M.-L. (1976). "Outils lithiques Capsiens ocrés." L´Anthropologie 80: 39-63.

I'm afraid I don't have any specific links (it's been a while since I have read in this area) but you could also consider the use of ochre by the indigenous populations in Australia and New Zealand. Australian Aborigines used ochre in a lot of cave paintings and in a modern context still use it for body decoration. New Zealand Maori people were reputed to use ochre both for body decoration and to waterproof their canoes.

Jonathon, thank you for reminding me of the "Red Paint People." I have seen the video, which is very good. One of my undergrad professors, Ben Fitzhugh was in the film, as is his father, who did the research many years ago.

It's not a utilitarian use of red ocher, but lumps of it were found in Burial 79 at Cuello, Belize, dating to about 100 CE.  The individual buried with the ocher was one of a pair of adult males buried in a seated position with bundles of human bones in their laps.  An additional 10 secondary burials of adult males were included, as well (see Robin, Cynthia, 1989 Preclassic Maya Burials at Cuello, Belize. BAR International Series 480. Oxford, UK).  

Thank you for the copy of your diss, Helene.  I hope to find a good translator and peruse your work.  It sounds quite interesting!

Hi Agnes I know this is an old thread but I thought I could help. I'm just finishing my dissertation on ochre use. There will be a few references dealing with UV rays but you can ignore them. There are quite a few and solely dealing with the Middle Stone Age in Africa and the Middle Palaeolithic in Europe. I hope it's of interest and helps you out. 

Hi Gerard, yes that is a wonderful reference list.  Some of these are familiar, but there are several more that may be informative.  I am always looking for any literature on ochre use.  Will you be publishing your dissertation?  I would very much be interested in seeing a copy when it is available.  Thanks again!

I've published some articles on this. These are all available on my RG page.

Not my field, but see the attached section:

Acta Arcaeologica Volume 86, Issue 1, December 2015, pages 101–105.

Best wishes!

I know this is quite an old thread but I'm interested in knowing if you ever found anymore information. I'm a pigment and paint technology specialist, my field of expertise being the Northwest Coast. You can find an article of mine here, titled "Coloring the Native Northwest Coast" which is a brief overview of some of my early research.

I have a great deal of information about the blue pigment used here but very little about red ochre so that's what I'm looking for now. If you have anything you can share, or point me in a direction, I would appreciate it greatly. Thanks!

Melonie Ancheta, [email protected], www.nativepaintrevealed.com

Red ochre is a ferrous compound. It is in fact a form of volcanic ash that becomes very productive earth. So, one could assume that a utilitarian use of red ochre was in prehistoric times and still is, to grow life.

Scholars involved with mythological interpretation, including Joseph Campbell* and Mircea Eliade** have speculated that the extensive use of red ochre in prehistoric human burials related to the idea of "growing new life" as in resurrection.

On the Hawaiian island of Maui, there is an area between the extinct volcano Haleakala and the equally dormant Puukukui (West Maui mountains) called Ma'alea. In ancient Hawai'ian, that means 'land of the red earth'. It is in fact very visible red ochre earth still used today for growing plentiful sugar. This is from personal observation.

Another utilitarian application of red ochre in prehistory may have been that they mixed it with water and drank it for strength. Today, pharmaceutical companies make iron supplement pills from ferrous sulfate, derived from mixing ferrous compounds with earth. This is also from personal observation.

*Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

** Eliade, Techniques of Ecstasy.

I would recomend you to look into the book "Rot - Die Archäologie bekennt Farbe" edited by H. Meller, Ch. Wunderlich and F. Knoll in 2013 (ISBN 978-3-944507-01-9). I think you will find a lot of papers on the topic.

Article Caracterización de pigmentos utilizados en el arte rupestre ...

Chapter Mössbauer and Raman Spectroscopic characterisation of iron-b...

Article In situ Raman characterization of minerals and degradation p...

Chapter Análisis no destructivo e in situ de minerales y pigmentos e...

Here some references on Altamira Cave (north Spain)

Best

Dear Agnes,

As many colleagues said there are wide evidence of ochre use in western Europe Prehistory since the Upper Palaeolithic. The Iberian Peninsula is not an exception. It is mainly represented in burial or ritual contexts but should have been very common in those peoples daily lives. Please note the following links.

Article El ocre en la Prehistoria: entre la funcionalidad y el simbolismo

http://revistas.uned.es/index.php/ETFI/article/view/16056/15046

https://prehistorialdia.blogspot.com/2012/01/las-poblaciones-del-pleistoceno-medio.html

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/tesis?codigo=50862

http://tp.revistas.csic.es/index.php/tp/article/view/626/648

You can read about the "red lady" from el Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain). This is an Upper Palaeolithic burial context where red ochre was used as part of the funerary ritual. The study is published in Journal of Archaeological Science by L. Straus and M. Morales and team. By the way, a Doctoral Thesis has been just read in November at the University of Cantabria by Dr. Eliana Catelli , she is a good reference now regarding ocher issues. Good luck!

South African Middle and Later Stone Age sites have quantities of red pigment in them. These relate to LSA rock art as well as MSA and LSA occurrences, many stratified. Red ochre deposits are also often found on ostrich eggshell beads and sometimes on burials and on grindstones, a small proportion of which are black pigment.

Here are some suggested papers. There will be more amongst the references.

Regards

I've been researching pigments of native California for almost 20 years now, I have a number of publications such as these,Article Emigdiano Blues: The California Indigenous Pigment Palette a...

Article Invoking Occam's razor: Experimental pigment processing and ...

Article 2004. The Mirror of the Sun: Surface, Mineral Applications, ...

Ghanaian forebears have long used red ochres for the manufacture of paint for artistic purposes and in colouring architectural structures.

The Madjedbebe site excavated by Chris Clarkson contained ochre 'crayons'. This site has rockart associated with it, and returned an occupation date of 65,000+

Hi Eduardo,

If you are looking for non-symbolic use of ochre, some examples here (with lots of references within):

Shaham, D., Grosman, L., Goren-Inbar, N. (2010). The red-stained flint crescent from Gesher: new insights into PPNA hafting technology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, 2010-2016. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.006

Rifkin, R. F. (2012), Processing ochre in the Middle Stone Age: testing the inference of prehistoric behaviours from actualistically derived experimental data, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 31, p. 174-195.

Rifkin, R. F., (2015). Ethnographic insight into the prehistoric significance of red ochre. The Digging Stick 32 (2), 7-10.

Rifkin, R. F., Dayet, L., Quefflelec, A., Summers, B., Lategan, M., d’Errico, F., (2015). Evaluating the photoprotective effects of ochre on human skin by in vivo SPF assessment: Implications for human evolution, adaptation and dispersal. Plos One 10 (9) e0136090.

Wadley, L. (2005). Putting ochre to the test: replication studies of adhesives that may have been used for hafting tools in the middle stone age. Journal of Human Evolution, 49 (5), 587-601.

Also, about manganese ('black ochre') to help start fire:

Heynes, P. J., Anastasakis, K., de Jong, W., van Hoesel, W., Roebroeks, W., Soressi, W. (2016). Selection and use of manganese dioxide by Neanderthals. Scientific Reports, 6, 22159, doi: 10.1038/srep22159

Sorensen, A. C. (2020). Neandertal advice for improving your tinder profile: A pilot study using experimental archaeology to test the usefulness of manganese dioxide (MnO2) in Palaeolithic fire-making, a: Klinkenberg, M.V., van Oosten, R. M. R., van Driel-Murray, C. (Eds.), A Human Environment. Studies in honour of 20 years Analecta editorship by prof. Dr. Corrie Bakels. Sidestone Press, 29-38.

Hi Agnes,

I want to warn you that the ethnographic record regarding traditional pigment use on the NW Coast is not to be relied on. Most of the documentation available today is incorrect. It was written by early ethnographers and other people who did not get the real or whole story, and there is much interpretation of what they were told. All of the contemporary writing about this is just reiteration of what was written long ago. Also, there was no analysis done of those pigments that were used until very recently, and as yet, there is nothing written about it except for a very narrow study done by the Canadian Conservation Institute and myself. Frankly, this subject is considered unimportant in NWC studies and even many conservators in spite of the fact that I have documented paint degradation on quite a few artifacts that are improperly stored or exhibited.

I've been researching traditional NWC Indigenous pigments and paint technology for more than 25 years and have amassed a rather large body of information. If you would like to contact me via email, I'm happy to share. copperwomanstudio@gmail. com.

I would also refer you to my colleague, Heidi Gustafson, who is specifically researching ochres and is extremely knowledgeable. She can be contacted at: earlyfutures.com.

Hey there!

Several publications on the subject can be found at the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), both at the World Cultures and Archaeology databases... check the links below, and search under "Browse SUBJECTS"!

https://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu

https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/

There are examples of ritual and utilitarian use of ochre also in Italy. Grotta Continenza (epigravettian period) is one.

Melonie Ancheta thank you for your response. So far all of my research on the PNW coast comes from oral histories obtained from modern Native Americans with that knowledge, as well as from early ethnographers in that area. One of the reasons I am interested in this topic is due to some research I began at the University of Washington about 16 years ago. I discovered a series of archaeological sites in Alaska dating in the Ocean Bay I Phase (c.7500BP) that contained boat-shaped oil lamps, very large ochre grinders, and red-ochre floors associated with possible shelters. Some of the floors were found to be several feet in depth. My recollection is that the sites were found from the Aleutians to the Kodiak area, and only during the Ocean Bay I Phase. This tended to be a wetter period, so one hypothetical explanation for the increase in red ochre during that period was as a 'waterproofing' agent used on skin boats, shelters, and human bodies.

My colleague Hannah Mattson and I have a recent paper with some examples! Hannah V. Mattson & Emily Lena Jones (2020) Material signs and relational meanings: reconsidering Ancestral Pueblo material dichotomies, World Archaeology, 52:3, 412-428, DOI: 10.1080/00438243.2021.1909494

Patricia Dobrez, my study into utilitarian use of red ochre stems from an undergraduate project I began at the University of Washington, Seattle about 16 years ago. Several prehistoric sites in the Aleution Islands and around Sitkalidak Island in Alaska contained an interesting feature - red ochre floors, as well as profuse numbers of red ochre grinders. This seemed to suggest perhaps a utilitarian use of the ochre, as differentiated from the ceremonial use often discussed. That said, although I am focusing on utilitarian use with this question and my ongoing research, I also have a professional interest in pictographic images from around the world, which utilize more colors than simply the red. Thank you for your comment.

Best,

Agnes

Hi Agnes,

you can use the attached pdfs from my Blog: https://aggsbach.fossilserver.de/index.php?Search

use the search function of the Blog for Color or Pigments

There is much literature about the issue from South African and Israelian researchers, which can easily downloaded from Researchgate or Academia edu

Best wishes

Johannes

I recently came across an open access article about Australian aboriginals and red ochre. Please see attached document.

Jillian Huntley, the author of the paper referred to above, is very knowledgeable about Australian use of red ochre. I highly recommend her!

In this book you will find a series of testimonies regarding the use of ocher in the Middle Paleolithic, but especially the description of the oldest stone containers used for the preparation of ocher.

Book SYMBOLIC BEHAVIOUR AND ART ON THE TERRITORY OF ROMANIA FROM ...

Chère elena

tu peux essayer de contacter [email protected]

elle a beaucoup travailler sur ce sujet à propos de matériel archéologique et ethnologique. Amicalement eric