Modern analytical scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which can provide high-quality imaging facilities together with quantitative elemental analysis using an energy-dispersive spectrometer, is finding wide application in the investigation of archaeological problems. The authors present a series of examples illustrating the role of the analytical SEM in the mineralogical investigation of archaeological problems, including the characterization and provenancing of geological raw materials, the elucidation of the processes used to transform those raw materials into useful objects and the recognition and characterization of changes which archaeological artifacts may have undergone during burial or during storage.