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Sonia Díaz-Navarro

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Research Interests
Bioarchaeology
Late Prehistory
Cranial surgery
Non-alimentary dental wear
Gender Roles

Sonia Díaz-Navarro is a Spanish researcher whose line of research focuses on the study of the human remains. More specifically, she has focused on human remains from collective burials from the 4th-2nd millennium BC. Her main lines of research are population composition and palaeopathological analysis of collective burials, especially evidence of prehistoric surgery.

She has been working as a pre-doctoral researcher at U. Valladolid (2018-2022), with a contract co-funded by the regional government of Castilla & León and the European Social Fund. In 2023 she defended her PhD thesis at the U. Valladolid with the highest qualification. Subsequently, she has been a postdoctoral researcher associated with the BIOMEX project (2023-2024). In January 2025 she will join the Juan de la Cierva programme as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Laboratory of Human Evolution (U. Burgos), with a two-years fellowship funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science.

Sonia is the author of 29 scientific publications, most of them in prestigious journals. She has also participated in almost 30 national/international conferences. Her research output has a wide reach, as evidenced by the significant impact of her work in press media and her participation in popular science blogs such as The Conversation.

Main Publications
Díaz-Navarro, S., Díez-Hermano, S., Rojo-Guerra, M.A., Lomba Maurandi, J., Valdiosera, C., Gunther, T., Uriarte, M.H., 2024. Sex estimation using long bones in the largest burial site of the Copper Age: Linear discriminant analysis and random forest. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 58, 104730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104730 Díaz-Navarro, S., Haber Uriarte, M., García-González, R., 2023. Holes in the Head. Double cranial surgery on an individual from the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino (SE Spain). International Journal of Paleopathology 43, 22–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.09.003 Díaz-Navarro, S., García-González, R., Cirotto, N., Haber Uriarte, M., 2023. New insight into prehistoric craft specialisation. Tooth-tool use in the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino, Murcia, SE Spain. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 50, 104066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104066 Díaz-Navarro, S., Haber Uriarte, M., Tejedor-Rodríguez, C., Lomba Maurandi, J., 2023. Emphasising the community: demographic composition of an exceptional tomb—the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino, Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 15, 140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01844-y Díaz-Navarro, S., Tejedor-Rodríguez, C., Arcusa-Magallón, H., Pastor-Vázquez, J.F., Santos-Pérez, J., Sánchez-Lite, I., Gibaja-Bao, J.F., García-González, R., Rojo-Guerra, M., 2022. The first otologic surgery in a skull from El Pendón site (Reinoso, Northern Spain). Sci Rep 12, 2537. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06223-6 Díaz-Navarro, S., 2020. A new case of prehistoric trepanation and scalping in the Iberian Peninsula: The tomb of La Saga (Cáseda, Navarre). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 31, 88–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2927 Díaz-Navarro, S., Sánchez De La Parra-Pérez, S., 2023. Human evolution in your hands. Inclusive education with 3D-printed typhlological replicas. Journal of Biological Education 57, 295–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2021.1909635

Main Publications

Díaz-Navarro, S., Díez-Hermano, S., Rojo-Guerra, M.A., Lomba Maurandi, J., Valdiosera, C., Gunther, T., Uriarte, M.H., 2024. Sex estimation using long bones in the largest burial site of the Copper Age: Linear discriminant analysis and random forest. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 58, 104730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104730
Díaz-Navarro, S., Haber Uriarte, M., García-González, R., 2023. Holes in the Head. Double cranial surgery on an individual from the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino (SE Spain). International Journal of Paleopathology 43, 22–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.09.003
Díaz-Navarro, S., García-González, R., Cirotto, N., Haber Uriarte, M., 2023. New insight into prehistoric craft specialisation. Tooth-tool use in the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino, Murcia, SE Spain. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 50, 104066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104066
Díaz-Navarro, S., Haber Uriarte, M., Tejedor-Rodríguez, C., Lomba Maurandi, J., 2023. Emphasising the community: demographic composition of an exceptional tomb—the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino, Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 15, 140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01844-y
Díaz-Navarro, S., Tejedor-Rodríguez, C., Arcusa-Magallón, H., Pastor-Vázquez, J.F., Santos-Pérez, J., Sánchez-Lite, I., Gibaja-Bao, J.F., García-González, R., Rojo-Guerra, M., 2022. The first otologic surgery in a skull from El Pendón site (Reinoso, Northern Spain). Sci Rep 12, 2537. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06223-6
Díaz-Navarro, S., 2020. A new case of prehistoric trepanation and scalping in the Iberian Peninsula: The tomb of La Saga (Cáseda, Navarre). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 31, 88–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2927
Díaz-Navarro, S., Sánchez De La Parra-Pérez, S., 2023. Human evolution in your hands. Inclusive education with 3D-printed typhlological replicas. Journal of Biological Education 57, 295–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2021.1909635

Research Projects
• 2024-2028. AGENDER: Politics of death and diachrony of inequality in the megalithic tombs of the Douro Valley during the 4th millennium BC. Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2022-141489NA-I00) – Work team. • 2024-2025. Chronostratigraphic characterisation of an exceptional Chalcolithic site: the collective burial site of Camino del Molino, Murcia. Palarq Foundation – Main researcher • 2024-2025. I was there too. An approach to the study of the non-adult population in megalithic funerary deposits, based on chronometry and proteomics. Palarq Foundation – Main researcher. • 2021-2025. BIOMEX: Parallel Biographies? Bioarchaeology of two Exceptional Megaliths. Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-116548GB-I00) – Researcher. • 2022-2023. Radiocarbon analysis of the dolmen of El Pendón (Reinoso, Burgos). Palarq Foundation – Main researcher. • 2021-2023. METOO. I Was There Too, critical analysis of the underrepresentation of women in MEgalithic TOmbs (4th-3rd millennium cal. B.C.) through Osteoarchaeology. University of Valladolid (PROYEMER-2021-45). Researcher.

Research Projects

• 2024-2028. AGENDER: Politics of death and diachrony of inequality in the megalithic tombs of the Douro Valley during the 4th millennium BC. Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2022-141489NA-I00) – Work team.

• 2024-2025. Chronostratigraphic characterisation of an exceptional Chalcolithic site: the collective burial site of Camino del Molino, Murcia. Palarq Foundation – Main researcher

• 2024-2025. I was there too. An approach to the study of the non-adult population in megalithic funerary deposits, based on chronometry and proteomics. Palarq Foundation – Main researcher.

• 2021-2025. BIOMEX: Parallel Biographies? Bioarchaeology of two Exceptional Megaliths. Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-116548GB-I00) – Researcher.

• 2022-2023. Radiocarbon analysis of the dolmen of El Pendón (Reinoso, Burgos). Palarq Foundation – Main researcher.

• 2021-2023. METOO. I Was There Too, critical analysis of the underrepresentation of women in MEgalithic TOmbs (4th-3rd millennium cal. B.C.) through Osteoarchaeology. University of Valladolid (PROYEMER-2021-45). Researcher.