A red powdery material unearthed from Sunwu period tomb M2 in Wulidun,Ezhou city,Hubei Province,was analyzed using Xray fluorescence (XRF),Fourier transform spectroscopy (FITR) and Xray Diffraction (XRD).The experimental results showed that the red material was a mixture of microfine vermilion mineral and oils.After a literature research,it was speculated that this material had been used as ancient cosmetics.The processing procedures could be:first,vermilion was separated from vermilion-quartz ore and ground to a microfine powder;then oils (white kaolin could be mixed,too) were added to make a cream.This research not only provides important archaeological information for this tomb site,but also provides an example for analysis of ancient vermilion cosmetics research.