Editing Red (section)

=== In prehistory and the ancient world ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
File:9 Bisonte Magdaleniense polícromo.jpg|Bison in red ochre in the [[Cave of Altamira]], Spain, from the [[Upper Paleolithic]] era (36,000 BC)
Pech Merle main.jpg|Image of a human hand created with red [[ochre]] in [[Pech Merle]] cave, France ([[Gravettian]] era, 25,000 BC)
KnossosFrescoRepro06827.jpg|''The Prince of Lilies'', from the [[Bronze Age]] Palace of Minos at [[Knossos]] on [[Crete]]
Pompeii - Fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus 2 - MAN.jpg|Roman wall painting showing a dye shop, Pompeii (40 BC) 
</gallery>

Inside cave 13B at [[Pinnacle Point]], an archeological site found on the coast of South Africa, [[paleoanthropologists]] in 2000 found evidence that, between 170,000 and 40,000 years ago, [[Late Stone Age]] people were scraping and grinding [[ochre]], a clay colored red by [[iron oxide]], probably with the intention of using it to color their bodies.<ref name="Marean 2007">{{cite journal|last1=Marean|first1=C. W.|last2=Bar-Matthews|first2=M|last3=Bernatchez|first3=J.|last4=Fisher|first4=E.|last5=Goldberg|first5=P.|last6=Herries|first6=A. I. R.|last7=Jacobs|first7=Z.|last8=Jerardino|first8=A.|last9=Karkanas|first9=P.|display-authors=3|year=2007|title=Early Human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene|journal=Nature|volume=449|issue=7164|pages=905–08|bibcode=2007Natur.449..905M|doi=10.1038/nature06204|pmid=17943129|last10=Minichillo|first10=T.|last11=Nilssen|first11=P. J.|last12=Thompson|first12=E.|last13=Watts|first13=I.|last14=Williams|first14=H. W.|s2cid=4387442|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/15550/files/PAL_E2962.pdf|access-date=2023-01-20|archive-date=2023-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525103726/https://doc.rero.ch/record/15550/files/PAL_E2962.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Red [[hematite]] powder was also found scattered around the remains at a grave site in a [[Zhoukoudian]] cave complex near [[Beijing]]. The site has evidence of habitation as early as 700,000 years ago. The hematite might have been used to symbolize blood in an offering to the dead.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|4}}

Red, black and white were the first colors used by artists in the [[Upper Paleolithic]] age, probably because natural pigments such as red ochre and iron oxide were readily available where early people lived. [[Rubia|Madder]], a plant whose root could be made into a red dye, grew widely in Europe, Africa and Asia.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le petit livre des couleurs|last1=Pastoureau|first1=Michel|last2=Simonnet|first2=Dominique|date=2014|publisher=Seuil|isbn=9782757841532|location=Paris|pages=32|oclc=881055677}}</ref> The [[cave of Altamira]] in Spain has a painting of a bison colored with red ochre that dates to between 15,000 and 16,500 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/310/video |title= Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain|publisher=unesco |access-date= December 30, 2016}}</ref>

A red dye called [[Kermes (dye)|Kermes]] was made beginning in the [[Neolithic Period]] by drying and then crushing the bodies of the females of a tiny [[scale insect]] in the genus ''[[Kermes (insect)|Kermes]]'', primarily ''[[Kermes vermilio]]''. The insects live on the sap of certain trees, especially [[Kermes oak]] trees near the Mediterranean region. Jars of kermes have been found in a Neolithic cave-burial at Adaoutse, [[Bouches-du-Rhône]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Prehistoric Textiles|last=Barber|first=E. J. W.|date=1991|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0691035970|location=Princeton, N.J.|oclc=19922311}}</ref>{{Rp|230–31}}  Kermes from oak trees was later used by Romans, who imported it from Spain. A different variety of dye was made from [[Armenian cochineal|''Porphyrophora hamelii'' (Armenian cochineal)]] scale insects that lived on the roots and stems of certain herbs. It was mentioned in texts as early as the 8th century BC, and it was used by the ancient Assyrians and Persians.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=A perfect red|last=Greenfield|first=Amy Butler|date=2005|publisher=Autrement|isbn=9782746710948|location=Paris|oclc=470600856}}</ref>{{Rp|45}}

In ancient Egypt, red was associated with life, health, and victory. Egyptians would color themselves with red ochre during celebrations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/reds.html |title=Pigments through the Ages – Intro to the reds |publisher=Webexhibits.org |access-date=2012-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004065950/http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/reds.html |archive-date=2012-10-04 |url-status=live }}</ref> Egyptian women used red ochre as a [[Cosmetics|cosmetic]] to redden cheeks and lips<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ancient Egypt: The Kingdom of the Pharaohs|last=Hamilton|first=R.|date=2007|publisher=Paragon Inc.|isbn=9781405486439|location=Bath|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt0000hami/page/62 62]|oclc=144618068|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt0000hami/page/62}}</ref> and also used [[henna]] to color their hair and paint their nails.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/sacredluxuriesfr0000mann/page/127|title=Sacred luxuries|last=Manniche|first=Lise|date=1999|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801437205|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sacredluxuriesfr0000mann/page/127 127–43]|oclc=41319991|access-date=2018-11-23}}</ref>

The ancient Romans wore [[togas]] with red stripes on holidays, and the bride at a wedding wore a red shawl, called a ''flammeum''.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|46}} Red was used to color statues and the skin of gladiators. Red was also the color associated with army; Roman soldiers wore red tunics, and officers wore a cloak called a [[paludamentum]] which, depending upon the quality of the dye, could be crimson, [[Scarlet (color)|scarlet]] or purple. In [[Roman mythology]] red is associated with the god of war, [[Mars (god)|Mars]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Colour|last=Feisner|first=Edith A.|date=2006|publisher=Laurence King|isbn=978-1856694414|edition=2nd|location=London|pages=127|oclc=62259546}}</ref> The [[vexilloid]] of the [[Roman Empire]] had a red background with the letters [[SPQR]] in [[Gold (color)|gold]]. A Roman general receiving a [[Roman triumph|triumph]] had his entire body painted red in honor of his achievement.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Triumphus.html |title=Triumphus |first=William |last=Ramsay |access-date=2007-12-09 |year=1875 |archive-date=2024-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606044526/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA%2A/Triumphus.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Romans liked bright colors, and many [[Roman villas]] were decorated with vivid red murals. The pigment used for many of the murals was called [[vermilion]], and it came from the mineral [[cinnabar]], a common ore of [[Mercury (element)|mercury]]. It was one of the finest reds of ancient times – the paintings have retained their brightness for more than twenty centuries. The source of cinnabar for the Romans was a group of mines near [[Almadén]], southwest of [[Madrid]], in Spain. Working in the mines was extremely dangerous, since mercury is highly toxic; the miners were slaves or prisoners, and being sent to the cinnabar mines was a virtual death sentence.<ref>{{cite book |title=Principles and Methods of Toxicology |edition=5th |author=Hayes, A. W. |publisher=Informa Healthcare |location=New York |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8493-3778-9}}</ref>