Red Ochre

South Africa – ZA001A
Composition: Clay
Colour: Red
Shape: Raw

Dry and dusty, rather crunchy and crumbly, becomes creamy and gritty but not sticky, mild.

Red ochre was purchased online in November 2020 through the US-based website TierraCravings.com.

Red Ochre is a red clay that can be found in many places but has been historically registered as used by humxns mostly in South Africa and Southwestern Australia. Ochre is an earthy pigment containing ferric oxide, typically with clay, which varies in colour from dark red to brown to yellow. It was used cosmetically during the African Stone age as a disinfectant and protection of the skin. This practice was also registered by white settlers in Australia. Traditionally the Noongar people of Southwestern Australia inhabited an environment where fresh water was a scarce resource during a large part of the year and in order to maintain bodily cleanliness they devised an effective substitute for water. This was a topical unguent known as wilgi made from a mixture of ochre (iron oxide) and animal fat.

Nowadays, in South Africa red ochre is a common edible clay. Some say that a rise in the addiction to clay amongst women is currently being witnessed. Sabile Mibili, in her article, argues that “while eating soil has become an addiction for many African women in KwaZulu Natal, and other provinces around South Africa – it is a health issue triggered by iron and mineral deficiencies and can be treated.”

Sources:
● ‘Ochre: an ancient health-giving cosmetic’, Anthropology From the Shed, by Ken Macintyre
and Barb Dobson (English), accessed on 23/06/2022 anthropologyfromtheshed.com
● ‘Eating soil has become an addiction for many African women’, HEALTH-E NEWS, by Sandile Mbili (English), accessed on 23/06/2022 health-e.org.za
● ‘Evaluating the Photoprotective Effects of Ochre on Human Skin by In Vivo SPF Assessment: Implications for Human Evolution, Adaptation and Dispersal‘, PLoS ONE 10(9), by Riaan F. Rifkin, 2015 (English)