A recent study indicates that colour was not the only property of ochre relevant to people in the Stone Age.
Roughly 5,500-6,000 years ago, the area comprising present-day Finland was inhabited by hunter-fisher-gatherers living in small village-like clusters. Travelling via waterways, these people established permanent fishing systems and, at times, even cleared forests for small-scale farming.
Even though the current concept of land ownership was unlikely to have existed at the time, these communities marked central locations by painting elks and boats on prominent cliffs using ochre, an intensely red earth pigment. They also coloured their dead and objects, before burial, with the same pigment.
The fiery red colour was undoubtedly meaningful in itself, but other meanings were also associated with the pigment's ritual use.
The was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Ochre brought to graves from different locations
The research group from the University of Helsinki demonstrated clear variation in the chemical composition of samples collected from graves and settlement sites associated with what is known as the Typical Comb Ware culture.
"The analysis of ochre samples taken from the same grave revealed that they were not always alike in chemical concentration," says grant-funded researcher .
"By examining the results in relation to the archaeological context of the samples, it was found that, for example, the deceased or their belongings placed in the same grave had been coloured with ochres of different origin. Perhaps it was a way to underscore individual identities, or maybe the origin of the ochre, or the journey it took, was somehow meaningful. What is clear is that colour was not the only thing relevant to people of the period."
The elemental concentrations of the ochre samples were analysed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) techniques.
First geochemical analysis of archaeological ochre in Finland
"While it has long been known that ochre was used as part of ritual activity in the Stone Age, archaeological ochre and its geochemical composition have never before been investigated in Finland," says Marja Ahola.
"Certain types of ochre are clearly concentrated in specific geographical areas," says Docent of Archaeology .
"The occurrence of chemically similar ochre hundreds of kilometres apart suggests that the substance passed through the exchange network of the era. We posit that ochre was transported over long distances in a network that also conveyed amber from the Baltic region and ring-shaped slate ornaments manufactured in the Lake Onega region. From this perspective, long distances, and objects and raw materials carried over them, are typical of the era."
In addition to the ochre exchange network, the research group found indications that several types of ochre were deliberately used in the same ritual contexts.
