Scientists use modern technology to understand how ochre paint was created in pictographs

Ochre was often used as a vivid red paint in ancient rock art known as pictographs. Despite its broad use throughout human history and a modern focus on how the artistic symbolism is interpreted, little research exists on the paint itself and how it was produced. Now, scientists are using electron microscopes to understand how ochre paint was created by hunter-gatherers in North America to produce rock art located at Babine Lake in British Columbia.