E-Mail: litang@scu.edu.cn; tang@gea.mpg.de
Address: No. 29 Wangjiang Road, Chengdu 610045, China
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4q-cy1IAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
RESEARCH FOCUS
Ancient protein (Paleoproteomics & ZooMS)
Tibetan archaeology
High-altitude adaptation
Past diet and disease
EDUCATION
| 2019-2024 | Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D. in natural science) Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology & Kiel University, Germany Thesis: “High-altitude dietary adaptations on the interior Tibetan Plateau in prehistory: Archaeobotanical, paleoproteomic, and stable isotopic evidence” (Grade: 0 “Summa cum laude”) |
| 2015-2018 | M.A. in Archaeology with a concentration on the prehistoric Tibet Sichuan University, China Thesis: “Early pastoralism on the middle branch of Yarlung Zangbo River: Ethnographical and archaeobotanical evidence from the Bangga site” (Distinguished Master's Thesis Awards) |
| 2011-2015 | B.A. in Archaeology Shandong University, China |
Work Experience
| 2025 – Present | School of Archaeology and Museology & Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Associate Research Fellow |
| 2025 – Present | Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Guest researcher |
| 2024 – 2025 | Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Post-doctoral researcher |
| 2022 – 2024 | Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Doctoral researcher |
| 2019 – 2022 | Max Planck Institute for Science of human history, Doctoral researcher |
Lab Experience
| 2019 – 2025 | ZooMS, Palaeoproteomics, Stable isotope, and Archaeobotany (MPI) |
| 2016 – 2017 | Phytolith (Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
| 2015 – 2018 | Archaeobotany (Sichuan University) |
Excavation Experience
| 2015-2025 | Tibet, China |
| 2024 | Mongolia |
| 2023 | Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan |
| 2018 | Pakistan |
| 2014-2015 | Shandong, China |
Key Publications
2024: Li Tang. “High-altitude dietary adaptations on the interior Tibetan Plateau in prehistory: Archaeobotanical, paleoproteomic, and stable isotopic evidence”, PhD Dissertation, Kiel University.
2023: Li Tang, Shevan Wilkin, Kristine Korzow Richter, et al. “Paleoproteomic evidence reveals dairying supported prehistoric occupation of the highland Tibetan Plateau.” Science Advances 9, eadf0345.
2022: Li Tang, Hongliang Lu, Xinzhou Chen, et al. “Prehistoric Agricultural Decision Making in the Western Himalayas: Ecological and Social Variables.” Antiquity: 1-18.
2021: Li Tang, Hongliang Lu, Jixiang Song, et al. “The transition to a barley-dominant cultivation system in Tibet: First millennium BC archaeobotanical evidence from Bangga.” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 61, 101242.
Award
| 2025 | Johanna Mestorf award |
| 2018 | Outstanding Master’s Thesis, Sichuan University |
| 2016 | Excellent Paper Award, Sixth Archaeological Forum for Graduate Students |