The Seba library treats Red Ochre in 5 passages, across 2 authors (including Onians, R B, Jung, C. G.).
in one of them were the remains of red ochre, ‘la matiere colorante rouge sacree dont les hommes fossiles de 1’age du Renne faisaient tres large usage a l’occasion de l’enterrement de leurs morts’
Onians establishes red ochre as the quintessential sacred colouring matter of Palaeolithic burial practice, directly attesting its ritual deployment with cranial cups in the Magdalenian phase.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988thesis
They were all covered with a thick layer of red ochre. In the cave of Hohlestein in the valley of the Lone, in a funnel-shaped trench
Onians documents the Mesolithic Ofnet skull-burials, demonstrating that the practice of coating crania with red ochre persisted well beyond the Palaeolithic into later prehistoric periods.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988thesis
red ochre, skulls coloured with, 535-6, 541-2
Onians’s general index confirms red ochre’s thematic centrality to his treatment of prehistoric skull-cult, cross-referencing two extended discussions of the practice.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988supporting
The churingas used for ceremonial purposes are daubed with red ochre, anointed with fat, bedded or wrapped in leaves, and copiously spat on (spittle = mana).
Jung situates red ochre within his comparative account of mana-laden sacred objects, arguing that daubing churingas with ochre is one of several techniques by which Aboriginal Australians concentrate and transfer vital power.
, Collected Works Volume 3: The Psychogenesis of Mental Disease, 1907supporting
To protect her or supply her needs, it may have been intended that the life-stuff or the spirit of each of these creatures should attend her.
In the broader burial passage adjacent to red ochre discussions, Onians theorises that funerary deposits — including those coloured with ochre — were intended to transfer the life-force of associated animals to the deceased.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988aside