Prevailing anthropocentric frameworks of animal husbandry in archaeological research are increasingly critiqued for their inability to capture the full spectrum of human-non-human systems. In west Siberia and northern Mongolia, reindeer herding communities practise an entwined multi-species lifeways with the subarctic boreal and forest ecosystems-but these practices lack secure archaeological chronologies and time depth in northeast Asia. Traces of reindeer herding and reindeer remains themselves are often under-represented in the depositional record, requiring alternative avenues for tracing the archaeology of reindeer herding. Here, we explore the potential of documenting these complex dynamics archaeologically through a proof-of-concept analysis of stable isotopic carbon and nitrogen in faunal bone collagen, which can represent a possible nexus of multi-species practices. In doing so, we seek to expand investigative potentials into both human and non-human community members, providing valuable, nuanced insights into past practices, hunter-herder interactions and domestication dynamics.This article is part of the theme issue 'Unravelling domestication: multi-disciplinary perspectives on human and non-human relationships in the past, present and future'.