Analysis of the red ochre of the El Mirón burial (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, Spain)

This article analyzes the ochre associated with the human burial of Magdalenian age in El Mirón Cave that, with its unique features (deep red color, brightness and particle size distribution), is clearly differentiated from ochres in other strata of the site. The most common techniques in archaeolog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of archaeological science Vol. 60; pp. 84 - 98
Main Authors Román, Romualdo Seva, Bañón, Cristina Biete, Landete Ruiz, Mª Dolores
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2015
Subjects
El Mirón Cave
Hematite
ICP-MS
Idiomorphic hematite
Magdalenian burial
Ochre
Raman spectroscopy
SEM-EDX
Thin section
XRD
XRF
Ochre
Hematite
Thin section
SEM-EDX
Magdalenian burial
Idiomorphic hematite
XRD
ICP-MS
El Mirón Cave
Raman spectroscopy
XRF
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Summary:This article analyzes the ochre associated with the human burial of Magdalenian age in El Mirón Cave that, with its unique features (deep red color, brightness and particle size distribution), is clearly differentiated from ochres in other strata of the site. The most common techniques in archaeological pigment characterization studies were used: binocular microscope inspection, thin sections, granulometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Raman spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results obtained permit the characterization of special ochre in burial layer (hematite with idiomorphic crystallinity). Its origin is completely different from the samples from outcrops inside El Mirón Cave or obtained by prospecting in Carranza Valley. This type of hematite has been identified on the coast, in Santoña, about 26 km from the burial. Given its uniqueness, can be associated with some kind of ritual of the time whose roots lay in the Middle Palaeolithic and continued throughout the rest of Prehistory.
ISSN:0305-4403
1095-9238
DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2015.03.033