This study aims to investigate the availability of earth pigments in the Lake Burtnieks area in Latvia and to analyse the use and symbolic significance of ochre during the Stone Age.

Within the study, potential earth pigment samples were collected during the survey. These samples were analysed by laboratory methods — X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy — and compared to ochre samples obtained from archaeological contexts (the Riņņukalns settlement and Zvejnieki archaeological complex). The use of ochre during the Stone Age was characterised by analysing the archaeological context, specifically focusing on the Zvejnieki burial ground.

The results of this study reveal a great variety of ochre use in the burial traditions of the Zvejnieki cemetery. Furthermore, significant chronological differences in the use of ochre in the burials were distinguished. From an ethnographic and folkloric perspective, it is likely that ochre, with its red colour, had a deep symbolic value and was an integral part of the burial process. Chemical and mineralogical analysis shows that although ferric sediments are widespread in the surroundings of Lake Burtnieks, none of the samples collected corresponded to those from the archaeological context. However, significant similarities between archaeological samples from Zvejnieki and Riņņukalns were identified.