This kind of provenance analysis has been applied to ochre at several ancient sites around the world with varying degrees of success.

The results can tell us about the geographic range over which a community moved or traded, adding information about the landscape use patterns that is not available from the stone tool assemblage alone.

Stone tool raw materials at Clovis sites have been traced to specific geological sources hundreds of miles from where the tools were found, demonstrating the extensive geographic movements or exchange networks of Clovis people.

Ochre provenance could potentially add a different dimension to the same question.