Discover 4

April 2018^ DISCOVER^37

PRIMARY COLOR
Not everyone in the field is as enthusiastic about
a functional interpretation of ochre. Notably,
Brooks says, while ochre may have had practical
applications, they were likely secondary to the
material’s symbolic use.
“There are a whole lot of other things ochre is

used for ... but that doesn’t take away from the

fact that it is extremely visible from a distance,” she

says. Sure it works for gluing together arrowheads,

“but quartz sand is found all over South Africa

and is a better adhesive; it forms a better bond.

If they’re making glue with red ochre, it’s

because it’s red.”

Hodgskiss strikes a middle ground as she

imagines how human ancestors might have begun

using the material: “You’re walking through the

landscape, and you see a beautiful red or yellow or

purple stone, and you realize you can grind it and

get a really nice powder from it. I think the initial

attraction was the color. The awareness of its other

uses came gradually, over time.”

And humans appear to have adapted those uses

to their needs. At Middle Stone Age sites in South

Africa, where ochre use was already complex

about 100,000 years ago, different types of ochre

were rubbed, ground or crumbled depending on

Clockwise from

far left: Ochre was

used to create these

50,000-year-old

aboriginal Gwion

Gwion rock paintings

in western Australia.

Himba women still

apply ochre to their

hair in northwestern

Namibia. They also

grind the pigment

to use it for perfume

plant balm. A young

Maasai girl sports an

ochre-enhanced look.