EARLY PREHISTORIC PERIOD RED OCHRE USAGE IN ANATOLIA

In this paper the use and the symbolic meaning of red ochre in Anatolia is presented in the light of archaeological and ethnographical studies. Black and red pigments were the earliest pigments that occur in prehistory. Of the two colours, red dominates the Prehistoric colour palette, usually in the form of ochre, hematite or iron oxide. During the Early Prehistoric periods ochre had two functions. One of these is the functional and the beneficial side, the other one is the symbolic and the ritual side. Although some scientific studies have showed that red ochre was used as an adhering material for handling the stone tools and for hide preservation, the earliest evidence of symbolic and ritual traditions in the archaeological record will take in the form of red ochre. Red colour as a powerful social and cultural symbol, as represented life, rebirth, fertility, transformation or status, is the fossil indicator for the developments of human capacities. The archaeological record reveals that from the Lower Paleolithic to historical times, red ochre has various uses in different regions; such as it was used for ritual body and face painting, for decoration of tools and symbolic artifacts, in burials as symbolic mortuary behaviors, for colouring the woman figurines and cave paintings. In Anatolia ochre usage had been seen early as Upper Paleolithic Period but reached its peak point during the Neolithic Age, especially with its symbolic and ritual function.