Baseline bioavailable strontium isotope values for the investigation of residential mobility and resource-acquisition strategies in prehistoric Cambodia

Strontium (Sr) isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) measured in human skeletal material can increase one's understanding of the residential behaviour and resource-acquisition strategies of past populations. The paper maps bioavailable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr variation in 183 plant and soil samples across Cambodia. Bioavailable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, as measured in plants, differs significantly between four major geological units. The data set will support future investigations of skeletal material from Cambodian archaeological sites. Baseline ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data should be applied judiciously to skeletal populations, and in concert with other lines of evidence, to identify potential geographical outliers rather than to ascribe specific locations from which individuals may have moved.