“…Given the fact that earth pigments are ubiquitous in archaeological contexts, as well as in works of art from ancient times up to the modern period, their precise characterization is of great importance for understanding the archeological and art historical record, such as: raw material selection and use, provenance (geological origin) and the technology of paint production. Important information, especially in terms of use, have been obtained via the numerous case studies performed over time on a large variety of artifacts: prehistoric rock art [6,15,16], ancient wall paintings [17][18][19][20], religious art [8,21,22], easel paintings [23][24][25][26] and so on. However, within these case studies, the analyses are often limited to the identification of the generic class of earth pigment used (e.g., red ocher), without any specific characterization of the mineralogical species present or of the geological sources.…”