This entry focuses on (Ha, ha, pun intended!) the topographic imaging capabilities of electron microprobe.  The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a close sibling to the electron microprobe, and both instruments can produce highly magnified images of specimen surfaces.  Such images commonly have greater depths of field than visible-light microscope images, meaning that more of the specimen is in-focus in the electron images.  This means, for example, the flake scars on a stone tool are sometimes more easily studied using electron microscopy.

        This Neolithic stemmed point came from an archaeological site in Saudi Arabia and dates from around 5000 to 3000 BCE.  Most points from this region are made from chert, honey-colored flint, and quartzite.  They are bifacially worked, thin, and leaf-shaped.  Some points have distinct barbs, nearly all are stemmed.  This point is part of what is called the Arabian Bifacial Tradition.  Many of these points are associated with mid-Holocene-period lakes that have since disappeared in the Saudi Arabian desert, only to be rediscovered during oil exploration.