Natalie Munro

Professor

Anthropology

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Education

Ph.D., 2001, University of Arizona

About

Natalie Munro is a graduate of the University of Arizona (Ph.D. 2001), Simon Fraser University (M.A. 1994) and Southern Methodist University (B.S 1991). In 2001-02 she was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. She was a fellow at the University of Connecticut’s Humanities Institute in 2015-2016 and a visiting professor at the Mandel Scholion Center of Interdisciplinary Research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2017-2018. Munro has active research projects in Turkey, Israel and Greece and is published widely in peer-reviewed journals such as Science, PNAS, Current Anthropology, and Journal of Human Evolution. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Human Evolution, and is a long-term co-chair and member of the board of the Connecticut Museum of Natural History.

Research Interests

The Emergence of Agriculture, Zooarchaeology and Taphonomy, Animal domestication, Behavioral Ecology, Human Hunting, Human-Animal Interactions, Animals in Ritual Practice, Epipaleolithic and Neolithic Periods of Southwest Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Teaching

• ANTH 3503. Old World Archaeology
• ANTH 3513. Near Eastern Prehistory
• ANTH 3523. Origins of Agriculture
• ANTH 3703. Zooarchaeology Method and Theory
• ANTH 3704/W. Experimental Archaeology
• ANTH 5356. History of Archaeological theory
• ANTH 5609. Quantitative Zooarchaeology

Publications

You can find full lists of publications on the following websites:

• Research Gate
  
• Academia.edu
  
• Google Scholar

Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Munro, N.D., R. Lebenzon and L. Sapir-Hen. 2022. Revisiting Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) body size change in the southern Levant: A case for anthropogenic impact. PLoS ONE, 17(8), p.e0273024.

Stiner, M.C., Munro, N.D., Buitenhuis, H., Duru, G. and Özbaşaran, M., 2022. An endemic pathway to sheep and goat domestication at Aşıklı Höyük (Central Anatolia, Turkey). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(4). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2110930119

Lebenzon, R. and Munro, N.D. 2022. Body size variation in a modern collection of mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) skeletons. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 41:103285.

Pedergnana, A., Cristiani, E., Munro, N., Valletta, F. and Sharon, G., 2021. Early line and hook fishing at the Epipaleolithic site of Jordan River Dureijat (Northern Israel). PloS one, 16(10), p.e0257710.

Malinsky-Buller, A., R. Ekshtain, N.D. Munro, E. Hovers. 2021. Back to base: re-thinking variations in settlement and mobility behaviors in the Levantine Late Middle Paleolithic as seen from Shovakh Cave. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 13(7):1-28.

Munro, N.D., Petrillo, A.N. and Grosman, L., 2021. Specialized aquatic resource exploitation at the Late Natufian site of Nahal Ein Gev II, Israel. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 13(1): 1-15.

Sadhir, S., al-Nahar, M., Olszewski, D.I., Petrillo, A. and Munro, N.D., 2020. Human hunting adaptations at Wadi Madamagh, Jordan at the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 34, p.102661.

Munro, N.D., Lebenzon, R., Gopher, A. and Goring-Morris, A.N., 2020. Hunting in the Negev: Insights from the Late Epipaleolithic fauna of Ramat Harif. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 33, p.102571.

Sharon, G., L. Grosman, E. Allué, A. Barash, D.E. Bar-Yosef Mayer, R. Biton, E.J. Bunin, D. Langgut, Y. Melamed, S. Mischke, F. Valleta, and N.D. Munro. 2020. Jordan River Dureijat: 10,000 Years of Intermittent Epipaleolithic Activity on the Shore of Paleolake Hula. PaleoAnthropology pp. 34-64. doi:10.4207/PA.2020.ART141

Munro, N.D. and M.C. Stiner. 2020. A zooarchaeological history of the Neolithic occupations at Franchthi Cave and paralia in southern Greece. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 58:101162.

Goldgeier, H., N.D. Munro and L. Grosman. 2019. Remembering a sacred place–the depositional history of Hilazon Tachtit, a Natufian burial cave. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 56:101111.

Samei, S, K. Alizadeh and N.D. Munro. 2019. Animal husbandry and food provisioning at the Kura-Araxes settlement of Köhne Shahar in Northwestern Iran Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 55 (2019) 101065

Munro, N.D, G Bar-Oz, JM Meier, L. Sapir-Hen, MC Stiner, R. Yeshurun. 2018. The emergence of animal management in the southern Levant. Scientific Reports 8:9279; DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-27647-z.

Starkovich, B.M., N.D. Munro, M.C. Stiner. 2018. Terminal Pleistocene Subsistence Strategies and Aquatic Resource Use in Southern Greece. Quaternary International 465B: 162-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.11.015

Meier, J.M., N. Goring-Morris and N.D. Munro. 2017. Aurochs bone deposits at Kfar HaHoresh
and the southern Levant across the agricultural transition (22,000–8,350 cal. BP). Antiquity 91(360):1469-1483.

Meier, J.M., N. Goring-Morris and N.D. Munro. 2017. Depositional Histories of Faunal Remains from the Neolithic Cultic Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Anthropology 48:233-249.

Meier, J.M., N.Goring-Morris and N.D. Munro. 2016. Provisioning the Ritual Neolithic Site of Kfar Ha
Horesh, Israel at the Dawn of Animal Management. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0166573. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166573.

Sapir-Hen, L, T. Dayan, H. Khalaily and N.D. Munro. 2016. Human Hunting and Nascent Animal Management at Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic Yiftah’el, Israel. PLoS ONE 11(7): e0156964. doi:10.1371/
journal.pone.0156964

Grosman, L.G. and N.D. Munro. 2016. A Natufian ritual event. Current Anthropology 57(3): 311-331.

Hartman, G., O. Bar-Yosef, A. Brittingham, L. Grosman and N.D. Munro. 2016. Hunted gazelle evidence cooling, but not drying, during the Younger Dryas in the southern Levant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(15):3997-4002.

Grosman L, Munro ND, Abadi I, Boaretto E, Shaham D, Belfer-Cohen A, Bar-Yosef, O. 2016. Nahal Ein Gev II, a Late Natufian Community at the Sea of Galilee. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0146647. doi:10.1371/
journal.pone.0146647.

Munro, N.D., M, Kennerty, J.S. Meier, S. Samei, M. al-Nahar and D.I. Olszewski. 2016. Human hunting and site occupation intensity in the Early Epipaleolithic of the Jordanian Western Highlands. Quaternary International 396:31-39.

Samei, S., N.D. Munro, M. al-Nahar and D.I. Olszewski. 2016. Differential Bone Preservation and Human Foraging at the Early Epipaleolithic Site of Tor at-Tareeq (WHS1065) in the Western Highlands of Jordan. Quaternary International 396:52-61.

Munro, N.D. and M.C. Stiner. 2015. Zooarchaeological evidence for Early Neolithic colonization at Franchthi Cave (Peloponnese, Greece). Current Anthropology 56(4): 596-603.

Stiner, M.C, H. Buitenhuis, G. Duru, S.L. Kuhn, S.M Mentzer, N.D. Munro, N. Pollath, J. Quade, G. Tsartsidou and M. Ozbaşaran. 2014. A forager–herder trade-off, from broad-spectrum hunting to sheep management at Aşıklı Höyük, Turkey. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111 (23): 8404-8409.

Stiner, M.C., N.D. Munro and M. Sanz. 2012. Carcass damage and digested bone from mountain lions (Felis concolor): Implications for carcass persistence on landscapes as a function of prey age. Journal of Archaeological Science 39:896-907.

Stiner, M.C., N.D. Munro and B. Starkovich. 2011. Material input rates and dietary breadth during the Upper Paleolithic-Mesolithic at Franchthi and Klissoura 1 Caves (Peloponnese, Greece). Quaternary International 30:1-13.

Stiner, M.C. and N.D. Munro. 2011. On the Evolution of Diet and Landscape during the Upper Paleolithic through Mesolithic at Franchthi Cave (Peloponnese, Greece). Journal of Human Evolution 60(5):618-636.

Munro, N.D., G. Bar-Oz and A.C. Hill. 2011. An exploration of character traits and linear measurements for sexing mountain gazelle skeletons. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(6):1253-1265.

Munro, N.D. and L. Grosman. 2010. Early evidence (12,000 BP) for feasting at a burial cave in Israel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(35):15362-15366.

Smith, A. and N.D. Munro. 2009. A Holistic Approach to Examining Ancient Agriculture: A Case Study from the Bronze and Iron Age Near East. Current Anthropology 50(6):925-936.

Munro, N.D. 2009. Integrating inter- and intra-site analyses of Epipaleolithic faunal assemblages from Northern Israel. Before Farming. [online version] 2009/article 4.

Munro, N.D. and L. Atici. 2009. Human subsistence change in the Late Pleistocene Mediterranean Basin: the status of research on faunal intensification, diversification and specialization. Before Farming [online version] 2009/article 1.

Munro, N.D., G. Bar-Oz and A. Stutz. 2009. Aging Mountain Gazelle (Gazella gazella): Refining Methods of Tooth Eruption and Wear and Bone Fusion. Journal of Archaeological Science 36:752-763.

Stutz, A.J., N.D. Munro and G. Bar-Oz.. 2009. Increasing the Resolution of the Broad Spectrum Revolution in the Southern Levantine Epipaleolithic (19-12 ka). Journal of Human Evolution 56:294-306.

Grosman, L, N.D. Munro and A. Belfer-Cohen. 2008. A 12,000 year old burial from the southern Levant (Israel): a case for early shamanism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105(46): 17665-17669

Grosman, L. and N.D. Munro. 2007. The Sacred and the Mundane: Domestic activities at a Late Natufian burial site in the Levant. Before Farming 4(4):1-14.

Bar-Oz, G. and N.D. Munro. 2007. Gazelle bone marrow yields and Epipalaeolithic carcass exploitation strategies in the southern Levant. Journal of Archaeological Science 34:946-956.

Munro, N.D. and G. Bar-Oz. 2005. Gazelle bone fat processing in the Levantine Epipalaeolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science 32: 223-239.

Munro, N.D. 2004. Zooarchaeological measures of hunting pressure and occupation intensity in the Natufian: implications for agricultural origins. Current Anthropology 45:S5-S33.

Bar-Oz, G. and N.D. Munro. 2004. Beyond cautionary tales: a multivariate taphonomic approach for resolving equifinality in zooarchaeological studies. Journal of Taphonomy 2(4):201-220.

Munro, N.D. and G. Bar-Oz. 2004. Debating issues in ungulate skeletal part studies. Journal of Taphonomy 2(1): 1-13.

Kuhn, S.L., A. Belfer-Cohen, O. Barzilai, M.C. Stiner, K.W. Kerry, N. Munro, and D. Bar-Yosef Mayer. 2004. The Last Glacial Maximum at Meged Rockshelter, Upper Galilee, Israel. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 34: 5-47.

Munro, N.D. 2003. Small game, the Younger Dyras, and the transition to agriculture in the southern Levant. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 12: 47-71.

Stiner, M.C. and N.D. Munro. 2002. Approaches to prehistoric diet breadth, demography, and prey ranking systems in time and space. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 9(2):175-208.

Stiner, M.C., N.D. Munro, and T.A. Surovell. 2000. The tortoise and the hare: small game use, the Broad Spectrum Revolution and Paleolithic demography. Current Anthropology 41(1): 39-73.

Stiner, M.C., N.D. Munro, T.A. Surovell, E. Tchernov, and O. Bar-Yosef. 1999. Paleolithic growth pulses evidenced by small animal exploitation. Science 283: 190-194.