How widespread was the use of red ochre by sapiens in prehistory?
score:8
You've already mentioned Blombos cave. One early upper paleolithic (European) example would be the Grotte Chauvet (~36kyBP). Ochre is habitually (sic ;-)) used (an found), e.g. in the middle and late upper paleolithic cave and wall paintings (25kyBP and later).
Use of red ochre (and hematite) is documented in the middle stone age (Africa) and middle paleolithic (Europe) as well, possibly by early Neandertals.
See the enumeration of some early find sites in the second (habitual) link, earliest African traces date back to late acheulean (Home erectus context) or transition from old to middle stone age (~250kyBP).
Please just accept the terms concerning chronology, it needs a lot more to explain connections (or the lack) between stone tool industries and human groups or species. Note that African and European chronologies are different and may not be mixed or compared (African middle stone age != European middle paleolithic).
I don't want to reason about cultural implications or any type of symbolism since this is mostly vain for the lifestyle of the paleolithic people, which in the end we know little about, only from the material remains we find. But ochre is openly available (a most colourful site being for instance Roussillon) and can be transformed into hematite by heating, giving a bright red streak when applied to a surface. Ochre/hematite are actually rare to find in assemblages, and worth special mention if found during a paleolithic excavation if they are not just lying as a piece of red clay in a firesite.
So, tl, dr and to answer the question as undeluted as possible: yes, widespread in use by Homo sapiens, even if one includes Neandertals in the family. Possibly by late Home erectus in Africa as well.
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