Olivia Munoz

I am an archaeo-anthropologist, specializing in the recent prehistory and protohistory of Arabia. I hold a PhD in Archaeology-Ethnology-Prehistory from the University of Paris-I Panthéon-Sorbonne and a PhD in Animal Biology from the Università di Roma La Sapienza, obtained in 2014, and I have been a CNRS research fellow since 2018. My research focuses on the evolution of ancient populations in constrained environments, through the reconstruction of their lifestyles and the study of their burial practices. I am particularly interested in the mechanisms of adaptations of coastal populations between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age (6000-2000 BCE), and in the biocultural changes that accompany the development of oasis agriculture in Arabia (food, sanitary status, demography, sedentariness, social complexification,...).

EDUCATION

2014 PhD Anthropologie-Ethnologie-Préhistoire – Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
2014 PhD Biologie Animale – Università di Roma La Sapienza
PhD Thesis: « Pratiques funéraires et paramètres biologiques dans la péninsule d’Oman du Néolithique à la fin de l’âge du Bronze ancien (V-IIIe millénaires avant notre ère) » │ supervisors: Serge Cleuziou, Jean-Paul Demoule, Alfredo Coppa

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Archaeology, Biological anthropology, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Arabian peninsula

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

For a Perception of Monumentality in Eastern Arabia from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age: 3D Reconstruction and Multidimensional Simulations of Monuments and Landscapes
TA da Cruz, O Munoz, F Giligny, V Gouranton
1st Workshop on Archaeology and Cultural Heritage through XR, IEEE Virtual 2025



French Saudi Archaeological Mission to Dhabityah. Preliminary report of activities of the 1st campaign (17/11/2024 to 14/12/2024)
O Munoz
Ministre de l’Europe et des Affaires trangres; Cnrs; Heritage Commission 2024



Panorama de la communaut professionnelle en anthropologie biologique et archo-anthropologie en France
F Marchal, O Munoz, F Bocquentin, Y Ardagna, C Buquet, S Kacki, ...
Bulletins et mmoires de la Socit d’Anthropologie de Paris. BMSAP 36 (36 (2)) 2024



Early Bronze Age Agriculture in the Hajjar Foothills. insights into the oral health of the Bisya population (ca. 3000-2500 BCE, Oman)
O Munoz, K Rointru
Seminar for Arabian Studies 2024



Funerary landscape, mortuary practices and bioanthropological studies in the Bisya Area ((Ad-Dākhilīyah Governorate, Sultanate of Oman). Report of the 2024 Campaign (11-26
O Munoz
CNRS UMR 8215; Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (Sultanate of Oman) 2024



Bahla historic mosque. Report on the salvage excavation (2003) and bioanthropological study of the bone pit.
O Munoz
CNRS UMR 8215 Trajectoires; Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (Sultanate of Oman) 2024



New insights on Bronze Age funerary monuments in the Ḥajar foothills: surveys and excavations at Bisya (Ad-Dākhilīyyah, Sultanate of Oman)
O Munoz, K Rointru, M Jean, MP Pellegrino, C Renaux, M Laguardia, ...
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 53, 173-193 2024



mergence de l’agriculture en Arabie du Sud-Est l’ge du Bronze ancien: apports de l’analyse des conditions bucco-dentaires d’une population de Bisya (3000-2500 avant notre
O Munoz, K Rointru
Bulletins et mmoires de la Socit d’Anthropologie de Paris. BMSAP 36 (36 (S)) 2024



The pan-Arabian c. 3000 BC monumental funerary complex
O Munoz
Seminar for Arabian Studies 2023



Evolution of the funerary landscape and mortuary practices in the Hajar foothills during the Early Bronze Age: the case of the Bisya region (Sultanate of Oman)
O Munoz, K Rointru, M Laguardia, M Cotty, PG Sanz, C Renaux, M Jean
Seminar for Arabian Studies 2023



Premire campagne de fouille du tumulus de Saint-Blec (Leuhan, Finistre)
C Nicolas, Y Pailler, L Aubry, TH Freiesleben, C Galinand, G Gurin, ...
Bulletin de la Socit prhistorique franaise 120 (1), 65-69 2023



First excavation campaign of the Saint-Belec tumulus (Leuhan, Finistere)
C Nicolas, Y Pailler, L Aubry, TH Freiesleben, C Galinand, G Guerin, ...
Bulletin De La Societe Prehistorique Francaise 120 (1), 65-69 2023



Ra’s al-Hadd HD-7 necropolis, Ash Sharqiyah Governorate, Oman
O Munoz, G Seguin
Landscapes of Death. Early Bronze Age Tombs and Mortuary Rituals on the Oman 2023



Ra’s al-Jinz RJ-6 necropolis, Ash Sharqiyah Governorate, Oman
O Munoz, G Santini, K Rointru
Landscapes of Death. Early Bronze Age Tombs and Mortuary Rituals on the Oman 2023



Shiya necropolis, Ash Sharqiyah Governorate, Oman
O Munoz
Landscapes of Death. Early Bronze Age Tombs and Mortuary Rituals on the Oman 2023



From the oasis to the great desert. Settlement Dynamics in the Hajjar Mountains Foothill (Oman). The Bisya Oasis from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age. Short preliminary
M Sauvage, M Jean, V de Casteja, A Beshkani, S Bonilauri, K Seolmin, ...
Ministre de l’Europe et des Affaires trangres 2023



Paris (IVe), Alle des Justes de France (ancienne rue du Grenier‑sur‑l’eau), Mmorial de la Shoah: rapport de fouille, 384 p.
X Peixoto, H Cabart, P Celly, S Frre, A Lefvre, L Leconte, O Munoz, ...
Inrap-Centre le-de-France 2023



The Early Bronze Age in the Hajar oases: new investigations of the settlement, funerary and monumental site of al-Dhabi 2 (Bisya, Oman)
M Jean, M Sauvage, O Munoz, V de Castja, T Mespoulet, J Pinot, ...
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 52, 189-204 2023



Le phnomne des tombes-tours dans la pninsule arabique et le cas de l'Arabie du Sud-Est
O Munoz
Symposium" Bahren et ses voisins", Muse du Louvre 2022



Mortuary practices and bioanthropological data in the Oman Peninsula from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (6th-3rd mill. BC)
O Munoz
International Association for Archaeological Research in Western and Central 2022

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Early Neolithic genomes from the eastern Fertile Crescent
F Broushaki, MG Thomas, V Link, S Lpez, L Van Dorp, K Kirsanow, ...
Science 353 (6298), 499-503 2016
Citations: 358



The microscopic (optical and SEM) examination of dental calculus deposits (DCD). Potential interest in forensic anthropology of a bio-archaeological method
P Charlier, I Huynh-Charlier, O Munoz, M Billard, L Brun, ...
Legal Medicine 12 (4), 163-171 2010
Citations: 77



Diet and mobility in a late Neolithic population of coastal Oman inferred from radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis
A Zazzo, O Munoz, JF Salige
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 153 (3), 353-364 2014
Citations: 58



Transition to agriculture in South‐Eastern Arabia: Insights from oral conditions
O Munoz
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 164 (4), 702-719 2017
Citations: 39



Excavations at Raʾs al-Jinz RJ-1: stratigraphy without tells
C Monchablon, R Crassard, O Munoz, H Guy, G Bruley-Chabot, ...
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 31-47 2003
Citations: 36



A revised radiocarbon chronology of the aceramic shell midden of Ra’s Al-Hamra 6 (Muscat, Sultanate of Oman): implication for occupational sequence, marine reservoir age, and
A Zazzo, O Munoz, E Badel, I Bguier, F Genchi, LG Marcucci
Radiocarbon 58 (2), 383-395 2016
Citations: 34



Life and death in prehistoric Oman: Insights from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age funerary practices (4th-3rd mill. BC)
E Bortolini, O Munoz
The Archaeological Heritage of Oman, Proceedings of the symposium held at 2015
Citations: 34



Variability in the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect in Muscat (Sultanate of Oman) during the 4th millennium BC: reflection of taphonomy or environment?
A Zazzo, O Munoz, JF Salige, C Moreau
Journal of Archaeological Science 39 (7), 2559-2567 2012
Citations: 29



Settlement structures and cemetery at Wadi Shab‐GAS1, Sultanate of Oman: Report on the 2002 and 2003 field seasons
M Gaultier, H Guy, O Munoz, M Tosi, D Usai
Arabian archaeology and Epigraphy 16 (1), 1-20 2005
Citations: 29



Marking the sacral landscape of a north Arabian oasis: a sixth-millennium BC monumental stone platform and surrounding burials
O Munoz, M Cotty, G Charloux, C Bouchaud, H Monchot, C Marquaire, ...
Antiquity 94 (375), 601-621 2020
Citations: 28



Les morts en socit: une interprtation des spultures collectives d'Oman l'Age du Bronze
S Cleuziou
Pratiques funraires et socits: Nouvelles approches en archologie et en 2007
Citations: 23



Pratiques funraires et paramtres biologiques dans la pninsule d'Oman du Nolithique la fin de l'ge du Bronze ancien (Ve-III millnaires av. notre re)
O Munoz
Universit de Paris 1–Panthon-Sorbonne; Universita di Roma" La Sapienza" 2014
Citations: 20



Use of ossuary pits during the Umm an-Nar period: New insights on the complexity of burial practices from the site of Ra’s al-Jinz (RJ-1), Oman
O Munoz, RO Ghazal, H Guy
J. Giraud et G. Gernez (d.), Aux marges de l’archologie. Hommage Serge 2012
Citations: 20



First contribution of the excavation and chronostratigraphic study of the Ruways 1 Neolithic shell midden (Oman) in terms of Neolithisation, palaeoeconomy, social‐environmental
JF Berger, R Guilbert‐Berger, A Marrast, O Munoz, H Guy, A Barra, ...
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 31 (1), 32-49 2020
Citations: 16



Promoting group identity and equality by merging the dead
O Munoz
Mortuary and bioarchaeological perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia, 21-40 2019
Citations: 16



New investigations at the prehistoric shell midden of Ra's al-Hamra 6 (Sultanate of Oman): results of the 2012 and 2013 excavation seasons
LG Marcucci, Badel, F Genchi, O Munoz, A Todero, M Tosi
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 235-255 2014
Citations: 16



La fabrique des anctres. Complexification sociale et spultures collectives dans la pninsule d'Oman l'ge du Bronze ancien
O Munoz
Le funraire. Mmoire, protocoles, monuments 11, 255-265 2015
Citations: 10



The burials of the middle Holocene settlement of KHB-1 (Ra’s al-Khabbah, Sultanate of Oman)
O Munoz, S Scaruffi, F Cavulli
Death and Burial in Arabia and Beyond Multidisciplinary perspectives 2010
Citations: 10



Les restes humains de SHM-1 (campagnes 2002-2007): tude archo-anthropologique
O Munoz, F Candilio, S Roudesli-Chebbi
Le capsien de Hergla (Tunisie). Culture, environnement et conomie 4, 299-314 2013
Citations: 9



Pratiques funraires et donnes biologiques pendant l’Holocne en Tunisie. Le cas de SHM-1 (Hergla, Tunisie orientale)
O Munoz, S Mulazzani, S Roudesli-Chebbi, F Candilio
Actes du Premier Colloque International de Prhistoire Maghrbine 2007
Citations: 9