Middle and Late Bronze Age Metal Tools from the Aegean, Eastern ...

Minoan assemblages and the eastern Mediterranean shipwrecks, but they are absent from
Mycenaean hoards. Flat adzes likewise only appear sporadically in the Aegean.
Statistical analysis of hoarded tools: There are 54 metal hoards listed in Figures
5.1-5.4, coming from Crete, the mainland, Cyprus, Anatolia, and Ugarit. The popularity
of tools in metal assemblages is unmistakable from the data presented in these tables.
Some regional tool preferences are apparent, but a statistical analysis of hoards may help
to delineate the similarities and differences in implement selections, both within a
localized area and trans-regionally. Therefore, the data of all 54 hoards were entered into
a statistical computer program, specifically PASW Statistics 18, in order to conduct
cluster analysis.
There are several methods for analyzing a multivariate dataset such as the
collection of tools within hoards. Cluster analysis was chosen for its ability to show
similarity groupings within a dataset—specifically it was desirable to see which hoards
shared the closest affinities to one another in terms of their array of tool types. As the
number of contents in a hoard, and particularly the tools therein, fluctuates from one
assemblage to the other, the tool data within each hoard was coded in the statistical
program as either “present” or “absent.” Within each hoard, there were 12 possible tool
variables considered here: 1) Double ax; 2) Broad chisel; 3): Narrow chisel; 4) Drill; 5)
Saw; 6) Combination tools; 7) Single/flat axes; 8) Shaft-hole axes; 9) Knife or Razor; 10)
Awls or Engravers; 11) Agricultural tools; and 12) Smith tools. The presence or absence
of each of these tool categories were noted for each of the 54 hoards. In other words, if
one or more implements from a category were included in a hoard, the presence of that
tool was marked with a “1,” whereas absence of a tool was indicated by a “0.” With the
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