Archaeological Isotope Analysis of High-Altitude Environments

High-altitude regions have long occupied a peripheral position in dominant narratives of civilization. Yet archaeological research increasingly shows that mountain and plateau environments were not isolated landscapes. Ecological diversity, vertical terrain and routes of movement shaped how people settled, moved seasonally, used resources, and maintained connections between uplands and lowlands. Isotope analysis is well suited to examining these processes because it links archaeological remains to individual life histories, local environments, and patterns of movement. Stable, radiogenic, and compound-specific isotope approaches can help reconstruct how people and animals used different ecological zones, how they obtained food, managed livestock, practiced highland farming, and how high-altitude communities were connected to surrounding regions.This Research Topic aims to show how isotope archaeology can improve our understanding of long-term human activity, movement, and interaction in high-altitude environments. We are particularly interested in contributions that combine clear archaeological questions with isotope evidence, whether focused on dietary practices, individual mobility, animal management, the spread of farming and pastoralism, exchange networks, human responses to climatic and environmental change, or methodological development. We also encourage interdisciplinary studies that combine isotope analysis with zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, palaeoenvironmental records, radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, proteomics, GIS-based modelling, historical sources, or ethnographic evidence.This Research Topic welcomes archaeological studies applying isotope methods to high-altitude environments worldwide, including the Tibetan Plateau, the Andes, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Alps, and other mountain and plateau regions. We welcome studies using stable, radiogenic, and compound-specific isotope approaches, as well as interdisciplinary research integrating isotope analysis with zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, palaeoenvironmental records, radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, proteomics, GIS-based modelling, historical sources, or ethnographic evidence. Methodological papers addressing baseline construction, isoscape modelling, intra-individual analysis, spatial assignment, and uncertainty in mountain settings are also encouraged. Topic editors: Xueye Wang, Ramiro Barberena, Xiaoran Wang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82162/archaeological-isotope-analysis-of-high-altitude-environments