The origin of iron‐oxide materials found at Paleolithic and Neolithic sites in the Spanish Mediterranean region is a pivotal issue that has not yet been explored. The aim of this study is to investigate the exploitation of local ochre sources during the different archaeological phases identified at the site of Coves de Santa Maira (Valencian Region, Eastern Spain). A sampling strategy and a methodological approach were developed. Lumps of ochre and raw materials were sampled from the archaeological site and its surroundings. The archaeological materials studied are from the occupational phases dated to between 15 and 6 ka cal BP, whereas the raw materials sampled from the surroundings of the cave are red fine‐grained and earthy‐grained sedimentary materials and Late Triassic (Keuper) clays. Morphological, mineralogical, and chemical analyses of the samples were carried out, and quantitative data on ochre fragments and processing tools recovered at the site were also included. Finally, Fe‐normalized and log₁₀ transformed data and multivariate statistical analysis, using major, trace, and rare earth elements as variables, were applied to compare the mineralogical and chemical profiles of the archaeological materials with those from geological sources. The results obtained have provided interesting data about iron‐based mineral exploitation during Prehistory in the studied region.

中文翻译：

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Coves de Santa Maira（西班牙巴伦西亚地区）的旧石器时代-中石器时代cher石的特征和来源

在西班牙地中海地区的旧石器时代和新石器时代遗址发现的氧化铁材料的起源是一个尚未探讨的关键问题。这项研究的目的是调查在Coves de Santa Maira（西班牙东部巴伦西亚地区）遗址确定的不同考古阶段对当地o石资源的开发。制定了抽样策略和方法论方法。从考古现场及其周围地区取样了cher石和原材料。所研究的考古材料来自职业化阶段，可追溯至15到6 ka cal BP，而从洞穴周围采样的原材料是红色的细粒和土粒沉积材料以及晚三叠世（Keuper）黏土。形态，矿物学，进行了样品的化学分析，还包括了现场发现的fragments石碎片和加工工具的定量数据。最后，Fe归一化并记录使用主要元素，痕量元素和稀土元素作为变量的_10个转换数据和多元统计分析，用于比较考古材料的地质和化学特征与地质来源的特征。获得的结果提供了有关该地区史前时期铁基矿物开采的有趣数据。