Bird, Michael I., Harris, Matthew, Hergt, Janet, Ulm, Sean, Willis, Anna, and Woodhead, Jon (2026) Isotopes and isoscapes for Australian archaeology: A review. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 73. 105752.

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Abstract

Both stable and radiogenic isotope analyses are widely applied in archaeological science to examine questions related to geochronology, diet, mobility, provenance and trade. Increasingly, measurements from materials of archaeological interest are used in conjunction with ‘isoscapes’ − spatially explicit maps of isotope composition from regional to continental scale. Comparison of analytical results to the spatial information available from isoscapes provides more nuanced interpretive power, particularly when several isotope systems are used in combination. Several isoscapes have become available for part or all the Australian continent in the last decade, generally developed for users in ecology, hydrology and mineral resource exploration. Here we review the development and interpretation of Australian isoscapes for hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, strontium, neodymium and lead. We then assess the possibilities and limitations of these isoscapes to address contemporary challenges in Australian archaeology.

Item ID:	91365
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2352-4103
Keywords:	provenance; geoforensics; palaeodiet; repatriation; trade; mobility
Copyright Information:	© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Funders:	Australian Research Council (ARC)
Projects and Grants:	ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures CE230100009
Date Deposited:	10 May 2026 22:55
FoR Codes:	43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4301 Archaeology > 430101 Archaeological science @ 40% 45 INDIGENOUS STUDIES > 4501 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language and history > 450101 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology @ 30% 37 EARTH SCIENCES > 3703 Geochemistry > 370303 Isotope geochemistry @ 30%
SEO Codes:	21 INDIGENOUS > 2104 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and culture > 210401 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artefacts @ 50% 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1307 Understanding past societies > 130703 Understanding Australia’s past @ 50%
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