I am an ICREA Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where I coordinate CGyM (Research Group on Colonialism, Gender and Materialities) and RAS (Research Unit in Gender and Social Archaeology). I began my research at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where I received my PhD in 1993. I was subsequently appointed by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, the University of Cambridge, and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. I have been honorary research fellow and visiting professor at different centres including UCSC, Northwestern, the National Taiwan University, the German Archaeological Institute, the University of Oslo, and the University of Sydney. I have received several grants from the Catalan and the Spanish government, the European Union, and the Palarq Foundation. I am currently supervising 6 PhD students and 2 postdocs. I was funding member and co-chair of AGE (Archaeology and Gender in Europe) for the period 2009-2015.
Research interests
I am an archaeologist with broad interests in social and theoretical archaeology. My fields of research include the Archaeology of Colonialism, the Archeology of Globalization, and the Archaeology of Gender. I am investigating the consequences that Jesuit missions had on native Chamorro (Guam, western Pacific). This research challenges conceptual dichotomies among disciplines and within disciplines (i.e. prehistoric and historic archaeology), and addresses issues of high scientific and social relevance such as the construction of gender and the value of dynamics related to cultural continuity, cooperation, and interdependence to human societies. I am PI in GenderGlobal, ABERIGUA, and MAR; scientist in charge in two ERC IF-MSCAs; and co-director of archaeological campaigns at Humatak. I believe that research must result in a more equitable and sustainable future, which in my case implies diluting divides between popular and academic understandings of colonialism and gender.
Selected publications
- Montón-Subías S & Hernando A 2022, "Modern Colonialism and Cultural Continuity through Material Culture. An Example from Guam and CHamoru Plaiting", International Journal of Historical Archaeology, vol. 26, pp. 823-847.
- Montón-Subías S 2022, La nueva normalidad: cambios y continuidades en la cotidianeidad chamorra durante la misión jesuita, Guam, 1668-1769, in Madrid C, Atienza D & Martínez Shaw, C. (eds) España y las islas Marianas. Una historia compartida. UNED, Instituto Universitario General Gutiérrez Mellado: Madrid, pp. 285-311.
- Montón-Subías S 2022, 'Misiones jesuitas en las islas Marianas: la colonización de los índígenas Chamoru', National Geographic, Historia, Arqueología.
- Montón-Subías S 2022, 'Almudena Hernando. Arqueología de la Identidad', European Journal of Archaeology, 25 (1): 142-6.
- Salgado-Pizarro R, Camacho S, Montón-Subías S, Moragas N, Fernández A 02022, 'Reused and Recycled. Archeometallurgical study of historical nails found in Guam, Mariana Islands, Western Pacific'. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 47, 103746.
Selected research activities
Invited talks, conferences and workshops:
Professor at XI Escuela de Arte y Patrimonio Marcelino Saez de Sautuola. UIMP, Santander, July 2022.
“Gouverner Les Îles”: Guam and the Mariana Islands in the Early Modern Colonial Globalization, U Jean Jaurés, Toulouse, May 2022.
Round Table Archaeology Matters. The Need to Re-define the Relevance of Archaeology. Elte University, Budapest, Sep. 2022.
Other:
Co-curator exhibition Biba CHamoru: Cultura e Identidad en las Islas Marianas, MNA-Museo Nacional de Antropología.
PhD Sexual (Mis)Encounters in the Mariana Islands: Tracing Sexualities in Spanish Policies and CHamoru Responses to Contact and Colonization, 1521-1769. Enrique Moral, 31 Mar 2022.
Master Thesis Paleogenomic insights into social organisation at latte Naton Beach, Guåhån (1200-1700 CE). Javier Maravall, 12 Sep 2022.