Recent analytical developments in the field of mass spectrometry have made possible accurate measurements of “non-traditional” isotopic ratios of elements such as Fe, Cu, Ag, Sn, Sb and Hg. The stable isotopes of these elements do not have any radioactive parents, but their ratios undergo limited fractionation from various causes, most of them mass-dependent. These effects can lead to variation in isotopic ratios of natural materials (minerals, rocks, ores, etc.) and in archaeological artifacts derived from them. Research since 2010 has investigated whether variation in these isotopic ratios can be used to infer the geological provenance of archaeological materials, including bronze and glass. Here we review recent research on these isotopic systems in archaeology, their principal applications, as well as expected future developments in their use. We conclude that none of these isotopic systems are likely to be very useful for provenance, mostly because of limited ranges of isotopic ratios and/or extensive overlap between the isotopic ratios of most geological sources. Copper isotope ratios are however a reliable method for inferring the type of ore (supergene versus hypogene) smelted to produce copper, and recent studies indicate that silver isotope ratios can also be applied to this effect.

质谱领域的最新分析发展已使对诸如Fe，Cu，Ag，Sn，Sb和Hg等元素的“非传统”同位素比的精确测量成为可能。这些元素的稳定同位素没有任何放射性母体，但是由于各种原因，它们的比例受到有限的分级，其中大多数是质量依赖性的。这些影响会导致天然物质（矿物，岩石，矿石等）的同位素比率以及由此衍生的考古文物的变化。自2010年以来的研究调查了这些同位素比率的变化是否可用于推断包括青铜和玻璃在内的考古材料的地质起源。在这里，我们回顾了有关这些同位素系统在考古学中的最新研究，它们的主要应用以及它们在使用中的预期未来发展。我们得出的结论是，这些同位素系统都没有一个可能对物源非常有用，主要是因为同位素比值范围有限和/或大多数地质源的同位素比值之间存在广泛的重叠。然而，铜同位素比是推断冶炼生产铜的矿石类型（表观基因与表观基因）的可靠方法，最近的研究表明，银同位素比也可用于此效应。