I am an ICREA Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where I coordinate CGyM (Research Group on Colonialism, Gender and Materialities) and GRASEG (Research Group in Social Archaeology and Gender Studies). 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 9 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 CHamoru (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 ERC AdG MaGMa, I+D GenderGlobal, and ABERIGUA; scientist in charge in 1 ERC IF-MSCA; 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 2024, 'The Habit Does Make the Monk: Jesuit Dress in the Marianas Mission 1668-1700', Journal of Jesuit Studies, 11 - 2 - 204 - 225.
- Montón S 2024, Prologue. In Antzack, K. Venezuelan Historical Archaeology. Leiden, Sidestone Press, pp. 21-22.
- Montón Subías S, ‘Other Pasts. Feminist archaeology, maintenance activities, and reconceptualisation’. In Moen, M & Pedersen, U eds The Routledge Handbook of Gender Archaeology pp. 383-396.
Selected research activities
PI: ERC AdG MaGMa (2025-2030)
PI: PID2019-105431GB-I00 GenderGlobal (2020-2025)
Coordinator:SGR-Cat 2021 GRASEG (2021-2025).
Co-Chair: AGE (archaeology & Gender in Europe) (2024-2026)
PhDs: 1 new doctoral contract FI-Joan Oró.
Supervision: 9 doctoral candidates, 1 MSCA, 1 JdC.
Co-organization: Colonialism & Gender in the Making of the Global Modernity, UPF, Barcelona; Social Archaeologies of Islands, 89th SAA Symposyum, New Orleans; AGE Session in memoriam Liv Helga Dommasnes, 24th EAA Session, Rome.
Co-organization: running seminars Charlas Feministas en Arqueologia (UPF) and Transcolonial Debates (UPF).
Invited talks: Magma. Gender, Material Culture and Everyday Life in the Mariana Islands, Commission on CHamoru Language, Guam; Aberigua 2015-2024, GPR, Guam.
Invited participation: Animating Gender: Dialogues in Archaeology,University of British Columbia, Canada; Human complex traits and social structure: Oceania into focus, University of Tübingen.