Since the 1950s caves in Southern China have preserved thousands of faunal remains including the teeth of hominids. This has facilitated the investigation of human evolution, and the lifeways and behaviours of hominin and hominid species. One of the most exciting finds was that of Gigantopithecus blacki, an extinct giant ape. The accumulation of these remains are essentially a result of secondary deposition, having often been washed into caves by flooding episodes, or carried in and deposited by rodents such as porcupines. Thus, properly provenancing and dating these remains is difficult – as is determining Gigantopithecus blacki behaviour, and habitat and environmental preferences. Methods such as trace element analysis can aid in answering questions about mobility, changes in diet and responses to climate change. This presentation discusses a suite of isotopic analyses that have been undertaken on 46 Gigantopithecus and 64 Pongo teeth excavated from these southern Chinese cave sites. It attempts to untangle the early life behaviours of these taxa. Trace element analysis in particular provides a recording of an individual’s exposome, which is the sum of the exposures an individual is subjected to during their lifetime. The research presented here forms part of my PhD, and explores the development, applications and outcomes of elemental mapping where no other record of a species remains but their teeth.