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61-718: The Upward Sun River site , a Late Pleistocene archaeological site associated with the Paleo-Arctic Tradition, located in the Tanana Valley , Alaska has now been dated to around 11,500 BP . Upward Sun River is the site of the oldest human remains discovered on the American side of Beringia . Around 8000 BC, Alaska was still connected to Siberia with the landbridge , located in the current Bering Strait . People who inhabited this region in Alaska were of

122-673: A colouring agent in Africa for over 200,000 years. Women of the Himba ethnic group in Namibia use a mix of ochre and animal fat for body decoration, to achieve a reddish skin colour. The ochre mixture is also applied to their hair after braiding. Men and women of the Maasai people in Kenya and Tanzania have also used ochre in the same way. In Ancient Egypt , yellow was associated with gold, which

183-645: A distinct clade with the individual from Cave 2 of the Trail Creek Caves on the Seward Peninsula . When compared with modern populations, USR1 shows closest genetic affinity to modern Native Americans, then Siberians and East Asians. USR1 does not cluster genetically with any modern Native American population. The genetic distance from USR1 to Mal'ta boy is the same as that from modern Native American populations to Mal'ta boy. USR1 shows additional genetic affinity for Denisovans that

244-418: A hearth, which was then filled in, with an abandonment of the site quickly afterwards. This individual was given the name Xaasaa Cheege Ts'eniin (Upward Sun River Mouth Child) by the local Healy Lake Tribe and is referred to by archaeologists as USR3 . Researchers were unable to recover DNA from this individual. In a 2013 excavation of the site, researchers discovered the remains of two female infants in

305-492: A large collection of ochre samples from many sites across Australia. There are many words for ochre in Australian Aboriginal languages throughout Australia, including: The Māori people of New Zealand were found to be making extensive use of mineral ochre mixed with fish oil. Ochre was the predominant colouring agent used by Maori, and was used to paint their large waka taua (war canoe). Ochre prevented

366-456: A layer directly underneath the cremated individual. The two individuals were covered in red ochre and buried together in a pit burial with grave goods, including four decorated antler rods, two lithic dart points and bifaces . The antler rods and dart points were likely part of a weapon system. The two individuals were given the names Xach'itee'aanenh t'eede gaay (Sunrise child-girl) and Yełkaanenh t'eede gaay (Dawn twilight child-girl) by

427-588: A location 600 km (370 mi) away from the Upward Sun River site. Ochre Ochre ( / ˈ oʊ k ər / OH -kər ; from Ancient Greek ὤχρα ( ṓkhra ) , from ὠχρός ( ōkhrós )  'pale'), iron ochre , or ocher in American English , is a natural clay earth pigment , a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It

488-433: A more lovely and perfect ochre pigment...And know that this ochre is a common pigment, particularly when working in fresco; that with other mixtures that, as i will explain to you, it is used for flesh colours, for drapery, for coloured mountains and buildings and hair and in general for many things. In early modern Malta, red ochre paint was commonly used on public buildings. The industrial process for making ochre pigment

549-555: A more recent part of the Paleo-Arctic Tradition dated to 10,000 BP. Although it is found in similar sites to the Nenana Complex such as the Dry Creek archaeological site, it is distinguished stratigraphically and through the presence of microblades, wedge-shaped lithic cores, and burins . Upward Sun River site The Upward Sun River site , or Xaasaa Na’ , is a Late Pleistocene archaeological site associated with

610-595: 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

671-513: A practice was common to the Celts of the British Isles , bog iron being particularly abundant in the midlands of Ireland . 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." Red ochre has been used as

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732-527: A specific archaeological period in the Woodlands c.  1000 –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. In Newfoundland , red ochre

793-522: 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

854-631: A way that is not found in later ancient individuals from the Americas such as Anzick-1 , Kennewick Man , or the woman from the Lucy Islands dated to around 6,000 years ago. USR1 belongs to a population that predates the hypothesized splitting of ancient Native American populations into the Northern Native American and Southern Native American branches and does not cluster genetically with either later population. USR1 forms

915-512: Is also the name of the colours produced by this pigment, especially a light brownish-yellow. A variant of ochre containing a large amount of hematite , or dehydrated iron oxide, has a reddish tint known as red ochre (or, in some dialects, ruddle ). The word ochre also describes clays coloured with iron oxide derived during the extraction of tin and copper . Ochre is a family of earth pigments, which includes yellow ochre, red ochre, purple ochre, sienna, and umber. The major ingredient of all

976-605: 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. 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

1037-458: Is highlighted by the great number of powders of this color 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

1098-628: Is matched by the archaeological evidence, as the Upward Sun River Site and Trail Creek Cave, despite being located over 750 km (466 mi) away from each other, both share similarities in artefact technology. Based on DNA analysis of USR1 , the Ancient Beringians are hypothesized to have split off from East Asians around 36,000 years ago, with continuous gene flow occurring until around 25,000 years ago. The Ancient Beringians are also hypothesized to have diverged from

1159-494: Is not matched by modern Native Americans; this additional Denisovan affinity is likely due to sampling variation from an ancient population with higher levels of heterogenous Denisovan admixture. Nuclear DNA analysis suggests that USR1 and USR2 are closely related, probably somewhere roughly in the range from half-siblings to first cousins. However, mtDNA analysis shows that the two infants are not maternally related. The two infants carry mtDNA lineages that are only found in

1220-494: Is particularly intensive: it is not unusual to find a layer of the cave floor impregnated with a purplish red to a depth of eight inches. The size of these ochre deposits raises a problem not yet solved. The colouring is so intense that practically all the loose ground seems to consist of ochre. One can imagine that the Aurignacians regularly painted their bodies red, dyed their animal skins, coated their weapons, and sprinkled

1281-594: The Paleo-Arctic tradition , located in the Tanana River Valley, Alaska. Dated to around 11,500 BP , Upward Sun River is the site of the oldest human remains discovered on the American side of Beringia . The site was first discovered in 2006. The layer with the human remains at Upward Sun River is most similar to the level 6 layer from Ushki Lake, Kamchatka . Both sites are the only Beringian burials found so far from that period. The name of

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1342-815: The Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War . Ochre also began to face growing competition from newly synthetic pigment industry. The quarries in Roussillon, Rustrel, the Mines of Bruoux closed one by one. Today, the last quarry in activity is in Gargas (Vaucluse) and belongs to the Société des Ocres de France. Ochre, both red and yellow, appear as tinctures in South African heraldry ;

1403-555: The Vaucluse department of Provence , in France. Thanks to the process invented by Astier and refined by his successors, ochre pigments from Vaucluse were exported across Europe and around the world. It was not only used for artists paints and house paints; it also became an important ingredient for the early rubber industry. Ochre from Vaucluse was an important French export until the mid-20th century, when major markets were lost due to

1464-598: The Western Desert , Kimberley and Arnhem Land regions, and occur in many archaeological sites. The practice of ochre painting has been prevalent among Aboriginal Australians for over 40,000 years. Pleistocene burials with red ochre date as early as 40,000 BP and ochre plays a role in expressing symbolic ideologies of the earliest arrivals to the continent. Ochre has been used for millennia by Aboriginal people for body decoration, sun protection , mortuary practices, cave painting, bark painting and other artwork, and

1525-469: The cave of Altamira in Spain ( c.  16,500 –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 symbolize blood and a hypothesized Great Goddess . The use of ochre

1586-728: The national coat of arms , adopted in 2000, includes red ochre , while (yellow) ochre appears in the arms of the University of Transkei . Ochre is also used as a symbol of Indigenous Australians , and appears on the Flag of the Northern Territory and on the flags of the Taungurung and Aṉangu people. A reddleman named Diggory Venn was prominently described in Thomas Hardy 's 1878 novel entitled The Return of

1647-403: The Americas. USR1 , the 6- to 12-week-old infant, comes from C1b . The prenatal infant, USR2 , carries a basal lineage of Haplogroup B2 that is also matched by the individual from Trial Creek Cave; this specific mtDNA lineage is different from the derived B2 lineage generally found in the Americas. Both individuals represent the northernmost discovery of these mtDNA lineages and show that

1708-480: The British fishing industry, where it was combined with oil and used to coat sails to protect them from seawater, giving them a reddish colour. The ochre was boiled in great caldrons, together with tar , tallow and oak bark , the last ingredient giving the name of barking yards to the places where the hot mixture was painted on to the sails, which were then hung up to dry. In 1894, a theft case provided insights into

1769-620: The Dry Creek, Moose Creek, and Walker Road archaeological sites and is characterized by bifacially flaked, unfluted spear points. The complex also includes bifacially worked knives and unifacially retouched lithic flakes lacking microblades that generally resemble similar lithics found in sites of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia , possibly due to migration and cultural exchange over the Bering land bridge . The Denali Complex denotes

1830-925: The Dyuktai tradition, originally located in Siberia. Eventually, the Dyuktai changed into the Sumnagin culture, a hunting/fishing group, whose culture was defined by possessing a new technology. Other cultures flourished as well, all being placed under the general category of the Paleo-Arctic tradition. The Paleo-Arctic is mostly known for lithic remains (stone technology). Some artifacts found include microblades , small wedge-shaped cores, some leaf-shaped bifaces , scrapers , and graving tools. The microblades were used as hunting weapons and were mounted in wood, antler, or bone points. Paleo-Arctic stone specialists also created bifaces that were used as tools and as cores for

1891-530: 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 . Ochre pigments are plentiful across Australia, especially

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1952-559: 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

2013-404: The afterlife, and social hierarchy, thus providing a richer understanding of Phoenician customs and values. 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

2074-410: The ancestors of Native Americans around 22,000 to 18,100 years ago. Phenotypic analysis shows that USR1 does not carry the derived EDAR allele commonly found in modern East Asians and Native Americans. However, USR1 does carry the derived rs174570 FADS2 allele that was targeted by a selective sweep . Around 300 bone fragments from salmonids were recovered at Upward Sun River, representing

2135-646: 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. A re-examination of artifacts 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

2196-570: The digestive system while others, which are rich in iron, can assist with lethargy and fatigue. Ochre is also often mixed with plant oils and animal fats to create other medicines. This ochre was mined by Aboriginal people in pits and quarries across Australia; there are over 400 recorded sites, and many of these (including the Ochre Pits in the Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park ) are still in use. The National Museum of Australia has

2257-508: The drying out of the wood in canoes and the carvings of meeting houses; later missionaries estimated that it would last for 30 years. It was also roughly smeared over the face, especially by women, to keep off insects. Solid chunks of ochre were ground on a flat but rough surfaced rock to produce the powder. In Newfoundland its use is most often associated with the Beothuk , whose use of red ochre led them to be referred to as "Red Indians" by

2318-626: The earliest surviving evidence of salmon eating in North America. DNA analysis types the salmon remains as coming from Oncorhynchus keta ( chum salmon ). Isotopic analysis shows that the salmon were anadromous . An obsidian flake discovered as part of the grave goods found in the infant burial was chemically identified as coming from the Hoodoo Mountain primary source site in Kluane National Park , Yukon, Canada,

2379-415: The earth of mountains, where particular seams like sulphur are found. And there, where these seams are, sinopia, green earth and other types of pigment are found...And the abovementioned pigments running through this landscape looked as a scar on the face of a man or of a woman looks...I went in behind with my little knife, prospecting at the scar of this pigment; and in this way, I promise you, I never sampled

2440-585: The entire mitochondrial genome from both individuals. In 2018, researchers successfully sequenced the nuclear DNA from the petrous bone of both individuals, yielding around 17-fold coverage from USR1 and low coverage from USR2 . Based on osteological analysis, the two infants were thought to be female; this assessment is corroborated by evidence from DNA analysis. When compared with ancient populations, USR1 and USR2 show closest genetic affinity to Shuká Káa from On Your Knees Cave . USR1 shows extra genetic affinity for Siberians and East Asians in

2501-644: 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

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2562-425: The grains of sand from the particles of ochre. The remaining mixture was then decanted in large basins, to further separate the ochre from the sand. The water was then drained, and the ochre was dried, cut into bricks, crushed, sifted, and then classified by colour and quality. The best quality was reserved for artists' pigments. In Britain , ochre was mined at Brixham , England . It became an important product for

2623-545: The ground of their dwellings, and that a paste of ochre was used for decorative purposes in every phase of their domestic life. We must assume no less, if we are to account for the veritable mines of ochre on which some of them lived... The Ancient Picts were said to paint themselves "Iron Red" according to the Gothic historian Jordanes . Frequent references in Irish myth to "red men" ( Gaelic : Fer Dearg) make it likely that such

2684-408: 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. This pigment is found in

2745-605: The local people and are referred to by archaeologists as USR1 and USR2 , respectively. One of the individuals ( USR2 ) was a prenatal, possibly stillborn 30-week-old fetus, while the other ( USR1 ) was a 6- to 12-week-old infant. The prenatal individual is the only prenate and youngest Late Pleistocene individual to be recovered in the Americas. All three died during the summer. Their teeth show features most similar to those found in Native Americans and Northeast Asians. In 2015, researchers were able to extract

2806-503: The mtDNA diversity in the ancient population is higher than in the modern, lending credence to the Beringia Standstill Hypothesis . USR1 is thought to be representative of a hypothesized ancient population referred to as Ancient Beringian . Ancient Beringian is now considered to be composed of three individuals: USR1 , USR2 and the 9,000 year-old individual from Trail Creek Cave. This genetic clustering

2867-564: The name PY-43 (Pigment yellow 43) on the label, following the Colour Index International system. 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,

2928-596: The ochres is iron(III) oxide-hydroxide , known as limonite , which gives them a yellow colour. A range of other minerals may also be included in the mixture: When natural sienna and umber pigments are heated, they are dehydrated and some of the limonite is transformed into hematite, giving them more reddish colours, called burnt sienna and burnt umber. Ochres are non-toxic and can be used to make an oil paint that dries quickly and covers surfaces thoroughly. Modern ochre pigments often are made using synthetic iron oxide. Pigments which use natural ochre pigments indicate it with

2989-595: 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

3050-528: The preservation of animal skins, among other uses. At Lake Mungo , in Western New South Wales , burial sites have been excavated and burial materials, including ochre-painted bones, have been dated to the arrival of people in Australia; " Mungo Man " (LM3) was buried sprinkled with red ochre at least 30,000 BP, and possibly as early as 60,000 BP. Ochre was also widely used as medicine and, when ingested, some ochres have an antacid effect on

3111-512: The production of large artifact blanks. Little evidence remains of the culture's settlement patterns, because many of the settlements were inundated by the rising sea levels of the Holocene ; however, remains of stone tools were discovered, giving indirect evidence of settlement sites. The Nenana Complex is the oldest part of the Paleo-Arctic Tradition found in cultural stratigraphic layers dating from 11,800 to 11,000 BP . It has been found at

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3172-659: 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

3233-488: The site, Upward Sun River, is a direct translation of the Middle Tanana name for the site, Xaasaa Na’ . The Middle Tanana name was recorded from the mother of a mother-daughter pair, two of the last remaining speakers of Middle Tanana, during an interview in the 1960s. The first excavation at Upward Sun River in 2010 yielded the cremated remains of a 3-year-old individual. The individual had been cremated inside

3294-571: 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 color 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,

3355-555: The use of the pigment as a food adulterant in sausage roll production whereby the accused apprentice was taught to soak brown bread in red ochre, salt , and pepper to give the appearance of beef sausage for the filling. As noted above, the industrial process for making ochre pigment was developed by the French scientist Jean-Étienne Astier in the 1780s, using the ochre mines and quarries in Roussillon , Rustrel, or Gargas in

3416-495: 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

3477-417: Was developed by the French scientist Jean-Étienne Astier in the 1780s. He was from Roussillon in the Vaucluse department of Provence , and he was fascinated by the cliffs of red and yellow clay in the region. He invented a process to make the pigment on a large scale. First the clay was extracted from open pits or mines. The raw clay contained about 10 to 20 percent ochre. Then he washed the clay to separate

3538-403: 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

3599-569: 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

3660-423: 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,

3721-805: 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. 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 color that

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