Abstract
The software R is an open-source statistical data analysis solution. In contrast to expensive statistical proprietary software, it is available free of charge and can be used anywhere in the world; it should be utilised more widely also in the field of Egyptian archaeology.
I would like to show the possibilities of its use on a dataset collected from Old Kingdom copper model tool kits recently discussed in my monograph Old Kingdom Copper Tools and Model Tools. The model tools were deposited in elite Old Kingdom burials among the items required for the Afterlife.
From the archaeological point of view, they represent the production of large tool kits of a regularized size by craft specialists. The paper explores the use of R in descriptive statistics, exploratory data analysis and innovative graphic representation of data, going beyond the analyses presented in the book.
The paper would like to encourage wider use of R in Egyptian archaeology.