Hongshan culture
Nelson was raised in Florida and obtained her PhD from the University of Michigan in 1973. Nelson was known for her research on the archaeology of East Asia, in particular Korea and northeast China. She also conducted extensive research in the archaeology of gender and Hongshan culture. She was also well known for her work on gender and archaeology and for her fiction writing about ancient East Asia. Nelson died at the age of 88 in 2020 after a long illness.