A relatively accessible and inexpensive technique that can be adapted to archaeological laboratory analysis involves the examination of both artifacts and osteological materials with X-rays. Physical archaeologists have long appreciated the information value of x-rays and x-ray photography, and in some cases Old World archaeologists have used the technique to great advantage. This paper related the practical application of X-rays in two separate archaeological contexts from the New World; the results in both cases were the discovery of cultural and/or physical anomalies that would not normally be visible to the unaided vision of the analyst. One study reconstructs South American (Moche and Chimu) ceramic technology while the other examines social stratification at the Medea Creek cemetery in California as suggested by radiopaque transverse (or Harris’) lines.