SPRAWOZDANIA ARCHEOLOGICZNE 64, 2012 PL ISSN 0081-3834 Joanna Trąbska* *Institute of Archaeology, Rzeszów University, Hoffmanowej st. 8, 35-016 Rzeszów, Poland; joanna.trabska@ archeologia.rzeszow.pl FERRUGINOUS RED MICRO-ARTEFACTS AS A SOURCE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL INFORMATION: A STUDY OF SELECTED PALAEOLITHIC SITES AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ABSTRACT Trąbska J. 2012. Ferruginous red micro-artefacts as a source of archaeological information: a study of selected Palaeolithic sites and experimental research. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 64, 17-? Red, cherry, orange, yellow and pink ferruginous powders have long been observed on Palaeolithic sites along with solid objects of similar material, which used to be labelled as “ochre” or “haematite”. Artefacts below 5 mm in size can carry abundant information on their provenance and processing (mixing with binders, heating, manufacturing with bone and lint tools, rubbing). Powders from selected Palaeolithic sites (Dzierżysław-35, Wierzawice, Michałów-Piaska, Klissoura, Goennersdorf, Dolní Vĕstonice, Stadice, Monruz) were examined with X-ray diffraction, scanning microscopy, micro-chemical analysis, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier Transform In- frared Spectroscopy. A database of raw materials and archaeological ferruginous objects is under construction. Key words: hematite, ochre, provenance, processing, Palaeolithic, research, archaeometry, SEM/EDS, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR Received: 14.10.2011; Revised: 11.05.2012; Accepted: 5.07.2012 INTRODUCTION The analysis of artefacts that are less than 5 mm in size (the lower size range is only limited by the resolution of equipment) is one method of archaeological study dealing with ‘micro-remains’ or ‘micro-artefacts’. The scope of this research ield has been described in handbooks (Weiner 2010) and is taught at universities.