The presence of a large amount of manganese makes umber earth colors darker than ochre or sienna. The pigment known as raw umber or natural umber came originally from Umbria, in Italy.

Where is umber found?

Umber is a marine sediment associated with black smokers. It is perhaps best known as a pigment but I want to explain what it is as a rock type. It is important in Cyprus-type massive sulfide deposits and the examples shown below are also from Cyprus. Umber is superbly preserved and very well exposed in Cyprus.

What is umber made from?

Umber is a natural mixture of iron and manganese oxides and hydroxides. Used throughout history, it has earthtones from cream to brown depending on the amount of iron and manganese compounds and is totally stable. This pigments it's known also has Sienna earth.