Stable Isotopes in Wood Archives and Tree Rings: Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction and Human-Environment Histories

Wood archives preserve unique high-resolution records of environmental variability and human interactions with landscapes across timescales ranging from decades to millennia. The isotopic composition of wood, particularly stable isotope signatures preserved in tree rings, provides valuable insights into past climate dynamics, ecosystem responses, resource use and the movement of biological and cultural materials. Recent methodological advances have expanded the potential of wood isotopes beyond traditional palaeoclimate applications, opening new opportunities for interdisciplinary research at the interface between environmental archaeology, dendrochronology and Earth system science.This Research Topic aims to bring together studies applying isotopic approaches to wood archives and tree rings to investigate past environments and human–environment relationships in archaeological and historical contexts. We welcome contributions in which stable isotope analyses constitute either the primary focus of the study or an integral component of broader multidisciplinary investigations in living trees, historical wooden structures, archaeological timbers, subfossil wood and other woody archives that can provide information on palaeoenvironmental variability, chronology, provenance and long-term landscape change. Studies using woody archives, not only as technical records but also as materials that can illuminate past social and environmental processes when interpreted in dialogue with archaeology, history and palaeoenvironmental research are particularly encouraged.Potential contributions may explore the use of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, strontium and other isotope systems to address questions related to palaeoclimate reconstruction hydroclimate variability, plant physiological responses to environmental change, the dating of archaeological and historical wood, timber provenance, trade networks, landscape transformation, forest management and other forms of long-term ecological transformation. We particularly welcome research that combines isotope analyses with complementary approaches, including radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, wood anatomy, palaeoecology, archaeobotany, documentary evidence and selected biomolecular methods where these strengthen the interpretation of isotopic signals.Although submissions from all regions are welcome, a particular aim of this Research Topic is to highlight research from regions that remain underrepresented in global isotope and dendrochronological datasets. We particularly encourage contributions from the Global South, including Latin America, Africa and South and Southeast Asia, where woody archives represent an exceptional but often underexplored source of information on past environmental variability and human adaptation. We would therefore like the collection to serve not only as a venue for methodological and regional diversity but also as a platform that helps bring a broader geographical range of archives, case studies and perspectives into conversation.We invite original research articles, reviews, perspectives and methodological contributions that advance the application of isotopic approaches to wood archives. By bringing together researchers from archaeology, dendrochronology, isotope geochemistry, palaeoecology and related disciplines, this Research Topic seeks to promote new collaborations and demonstrate the potential of wood isotopes as powerful tools for reconstruct intersecting histories of climate, ecosystems, and human societies. Topic editors: Victor Lery Caetano-Andrade, Mariano Morales, Clara Rodriguez Morata Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84714/stable-isotopes-in-wood-archives-and-tree-rings-palaeoenvironmental-reconstruction-and-human-environment-histories