Mercedes Martinez Milantchi

I am a Puerto Rican archaeologist and curator who is interested in the intersection of coloniality, material culture, Indigeneity, mestizaje, and the politics behind museums in the Caribbean. I am passionate about how “things” tell stories about the past and how these narratives shape people’s identity.

Prior to joining Stanford, I worked as a curator at the Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research at the British Museum. I completed a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in Archaeological Studies and an Erasmus Mundus masters in ARCHaeological MATerials Sciences (University of Evora, Sapienza University and Aristotle University). 

Research Interests: Caribbean studies, museology, colonial archaeology, post-colonial studies, Indigenous ontologies, identity 

Graduate Mentees: Annis Barron, Chenyu Deng, Paola Parra, Brandon Rubio