Since ancient times, minerals have been utilized as coloring agents. Early humans painted their bodies for decorative purposes. In a cave in Twin Rivers, close to Lusaka, Zambia, Pigments and paint grinding equipment thought to be between 350,000 and 400,000 years old have been discovered. The original hue of paint was ochre, which is iron oxide. Lapis lazuli was used to create a very popular blue pigment.
Mineral and clay-based pigments frequently bear the name of the city or region where they were first mined. Italy's Siena produced Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna, while Umbria produced Raw Umber and Burnt Umber. These Pigments were some of the simplest to make, and chemists based current hues on them. The geographical names survived, but these hues were more reliable than those extracted from the original ore deposits. Numerous cave paintings from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods also contain Red Ochre, anhydrous Fe2O3, and hydrated Yellow Ochre (Fe2O3.H2O). Since ancient times, charcoal, also known as carbon black, has been utilised as a black pigment.
