What the Ancient Pigment Ochre Tells Us About the Human Mind

Archaeologists are learning how we evolved our cognitive abilities with the help of ochre, an ancient pigment used for everything from body paint to sunscreen.

By Gemma Tarlach
Mar 16, 2018 12:00 AMNov 15, 2019 3:36 PM
ochre-opener
Both ancient and modern peoples use ochre to decorate themselves and their environments as well as in sunscreen and other functional applications. Stephen Alvarez/National Geographic Creative

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Smeared on shells, piled in graves, stamped and stenciled on cave walls from South Africa to Australia, Germany to Peru, ochre has been a part of the human story since our very start — and perhaps even earlier.

For decades, researchers believed the iron-rich rocks used as pigment at prehistoric sites had symbolic value. But as archaeologists turn up evidence of functional uses for the material, they’re realizing early humans’ relationship with ochre is more complex.

Tammy Hodgskiss, an archaeologist at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, has studied sites in that country such as Rose Cottage Cave, where evidence of ochre use spans more than 60,000 years.

“People may say ochre is the earliest form of art and symbolism, but there’s more to it,” she says. “Ochre shows how our brains were developing, and that we were using our environment. It bridges the divide between art and science.”

Ochre, which ranges in color from yellow to deep purple, has been favored by humans longer than any other pigment. Philippe Psaila/Science Source
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