Australia · Pigment Preparation / Painting Substrate
Ochre (term varies by language group)
Ochre — iron oxide mineral pigments ranging from yellow to red to purple — is the primary painting material of Aboriginal Australian visual culture, used in bark painting, body painting, rock art, and ceremony for at least 65,000 years. Ochre processing is not simply grinding a mineral — it involves selecting specific ochre from specific sites (many of which are sacred), heating to convert yellow goethite to red haematite (calcining), grinding on a specific grinding stone, and mixing with a binder (kangaroo fat, emu fat, or water) at specific ratios. The defining technical knowledge is the calcining temperature: yellow ochre heated to approximately 250-300°C converts to a more saturated red — assessed not by thermometer but by color change: 'when the yellow becomes the color of dried blood, it is done.'
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Australia national ICH list; specific ochre sites World Heritage or State Heritage listed
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