The application of multivariate techniques to data from spanish glass-making objects from the Roman Era

Abstract Three multivariate techniques (principal components analysis, correspondence factor analysis and spectral map analsis) are applied to x-ray fluorescence data from glass-making objects from the 5th century AD found in Tarragona (Tarraco in the Roman Empire). The information obtained by displaying th eobjects and variables in each reduced factor space is compared. The presence of redundant information is shown. The visualization of groups of objects and of the relationship between objects and variables allows the formulation of hypotheses concerning the origin of the samples and the presence of local glassworks.