A study led by Rimtautas Dapschauskas found evidence that humans were using ocher pigments at sites across southern and eastern Africa between 500,000 and 330,000 years ago, according to IFLScience.

Unlike ocher and realgar, which occur naturally, Egyptian blue is a synthetic pigment produced by firing a mixture of silica, limestone and minerals containing copper and sodium carbonate at high ...

Like all but one of the Fenn artifacts, this point bears a residue of red ocher, an iron-rich pigment that Stone Age cultures often used in ceremonies. The scratches visible on the flaked base ...