Red ocher burial was practiced continually for over 40,000 years. The red ocher symbolized blood and the hope of life after death for some archaic peoples. While red ocher burial is widely found, it is not the practice of all prehistoric populations. It appears to be the practice of people who held a rather unique religion.
Who were the first people to bury their dead in red ocher? What is their point of origin? Were they sea faring?
Evidence of red ocher in burial has been found in the Qafzeh Cave in Lower Galilee dating to 100,000 years and it was practiced by the Neanderthals 60,000 years ago.
Red paint people traveled from Labrador to the Ohio Valley to Mississippi. They erected circles of standing stones, tumuli, and mounds from the Atlantic northeast to the Mississippi. Natchez resembles Egyptian words. Na'Tchez is comprised of the word Na, meaning no, and T, which refers to crossing. The Nilotic Annu/Ainu are called Micmac in Labrador and Eastern Canada. Their word for house or residence or territory is chis/chisei. Perhaps Na-T-Chez means "No crossing through this land." The Natchez Trace is a vast network of trails used by Native Americans in prehistoric times.
Here is a NOVA video that explores the Red Paint People of Labrador, New England, and the Ohio Valley.
Related reading: A Kindling of Ancient Memory; Artifacts of Great Antiquity; Blood Anxiety in Archaic Communities
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