Often referred to as the “Third Pole”, the Tibetan Plateau combines high elevation, extreme cold temperatures, hyper-aridity, and low oxygen levels. The strategy that early populations adopted to adapt to the harsh environment of the Tibetan Plateau has always attracted much attention. However, relevant studies have predominantly focused on the relatively lower elevation northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau (<3000 m a.s.l.), with limited study in areas of ultrahigh elevation (>3500 m a.s.l.). This paper employed the flotation method and charcoal analysis of survey profiles from thirteen archaeological sites in the ultrahigh-elevation region of the middle Yarlung Zangbo River basin on the southern Tibetan Plateau, and finds that ancient people have been active in this region since the last deglaciation. The primary fuel sources used by ancient populations were small trees such as sea buckthorn () and shrubs such as juniper (). The widespread use of undesirable wood (dwarf thorny shrub) like and , along with the phenomenon of many sites relying on a single taxon, reflects the prevalent issue of fuel scarcity in this ultrahigh-elevation region. This might have been a driving factor for the early adoption of animal dung as a primary fuel source by ancient populations on the southern Tibetan Plateau.

中文翻译：

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上次冰消期以来青藏高原超高海拔地区的燃料使用策略

青藏高原通常被称为“第三极”，这里海拔高、气温极低、极度干旱和低氧。早期人类为适应青藏高原恶劣环境而采取的策略一直备受关注。然而，相关研究主要集中在青藏高原东北部海拔相对较低的地区（<3000 m asl），对超高海拔（>3500 m asl）地区的研究有限。本文采用浮选法和木炭分析法，对青藏高原南部雅鲁藏布江中游流域超高海拔地区13个考古遗址的调查剖面进行了木炭分析，发现自末次冰消期以来，该地区一直有远古人类活动。 。古代人们使用的主要燃料来源是沙棘 () 等小树和杜松 () 等灌木。诸如 和 等不良木材（矮刺灌木）的广泛使用，以及许多地点依赖单一分类群的现象，反映了这个超高海拔地区普遍存在的燃料短缺问题。这可能是青藏高原南部古代居民早期采用动物粪便作为主要燃料来源的驱动因素。