Ochres are naturally occurring materials that are abundant in various geological environments and geographic regions and that have been used for a range of different purposes throughout history. Their wide use as pigments in ancient art is well-documented and, due to their abundancy, it is often presumed that ochres were extracted from locally available sources. However, ancient literary sources underline a preference for ochres from specific regions and provenance is viewed as a signifier for different properties, uses, and values. Despite the evident importance of ochre provenance for Hellenistic and Roman art, research on the topic remains scarce. This review paper aims to bridge archaeological and literary evidence with science-based methodological approaches that contribute to ochre provenance research. Firstly, an overview of ancient texts discussing terminology and the significance of ochre provenance and trade during the Hellenistic and Roman period is presented. Secondly, archaeological science-based approaches to ochre provenance research are reviewed, sketching out the contribution of interdisciplinary research to ancient ochre research, with a focus on evaluating possible raw material sources. Finally, this paper explores future directions that could contribute to the contextualisation of science-based approaches of ochre-provenance research within the framework of Classical Mediterranean archaeology, a period for which textual and historical evidence complement archaeological finds.

中文翻译：

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赭石作为希腊化和罗马多色中的泥土颜料：材料起源和贸易的现状和未来方向

赭石是天然存在的材料，在各种地质环境和地理区域中丰富存在，并且在历史上已被用于一系列不同的目的。它们在古代艺术中作为颜料的广泛使用是有据可查的，并且由于它们的丰富性，人们通常认为赭石是从当地可用的来源中提取的。然而，古代文学资料强调了对来自特定地区的赭石的偏好，而出处被视为不同属性、用途和价值的象征。尽管赭石来源对希腊化和罗马艺术的重要性显而易见，但关于该主题的研究仍然很少。这篇综述论文旨在将考古学和文学证据与有助于赭石起源研究的基于科学的方法论方法联系起来。首先，概述了讨论希腊化和罗马时期术语以及赭石起源和贸易重要性的古代文本。其次，回顾了基于考古科学的赭石起源研究方法，概述了跨学科研究对古代赭石研究的贡献，重点是评估可能的原材料来源。最后，本文探讨了未来方向，这些方向可能有助于在古典地中海考古学框架内将基于科学的赭石起源研究方法置于情境化，在这个时期，文本和历史证据与考古发现相辅相成。