Samples for the analysis of old glass beads are taken from among excavated beads that cannot be restored. Using a SEM-EDS, the major components of such beads are measured and classified. Because the condition of the excavation and other information must be taken into consideration in the representation of the sample, the conservation scientist or the chemist must participate in the selection of the sample. If the results of scientific analysis are applied to this basic point, we could expect both more useful information as well as a greater variety of investigations and interpretations. The scientific analysis of old glass beads, while based on an analysis of their composition, requires that at the same time an analysis of their color, crystallinity and defects must be undertaken. If this is done, then the acquisition of analytical information will not only be of greater depth and width, but also the quality of such information will be higher. Thus, from this point of view, the SEM-EDS is much more useful in the analysis of glass beads than other instruments. In this paper the results of an analysis of approximately 300 beads excavated in Korea became the basis for the intriduction of a method for scientific analysis and interpretation. Furtherr, the paper briefly noted the need for a systematic accumulation of such material. Thus the problem of the selection of the sample of glass beads for analysis, methods for classifying glass based on composition, classification by color and internal defects were introduced and researched.