Sarah Milledge Nelson (November 29, 1931 – April 27, 2020) was an American archaeologist and Distinguished Professor Emerita from the Department of Anthropology, University of Denver,^[1] United States.

Nelson was raised in Florida and obtained her PhD from the University of Michigan in 1973.^[2] 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^[3][4] 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.^[5]

• Chulmun Period Villages on the Han River in Korea, Subsistence and Settlement. PhD Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1973.
• The Neolithic of Northeastern China and Korea. Antiquity 64(243):234–248, 1990.
• "Diversity of the Upper Paleolithic "Venus" Figurines and Archaeological Mythology," in Powers of Observation, Alternative Views in Archaeology. S.M. Nelson and Alice B. Kehoe, eds., pp. 11–22; 1990
• Gender Hierarchy and the Queens of Silla. In Sex and Gender Hierarchies, edited by B.D. Miller. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
• The Archaeology of Korea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-521-40783-4
• (with Margaret Nelson and Alison Wylie, editors), Equity Issues for Women in Archaeology, American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, 1994;
• The Archaeology of Northeast China. Routledge Press, London, England, 1995;
• The Politics of Ethnicity in Prehistoric Korea. In Kohl, P.L. and C. Fawcett, eds. Nationalism, Politics, and the Practice of Archaeology.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995:218–231.
• (editor) The Archaeology of Northeast China: Beyond the Great Wall. London: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0-415-11755-0
• Gender in Archaeology: Analyzing Power and Prestige, Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 1997. Selected as a Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Book
• Megalithic Monuments and the Introduction of Rice into Korea. In The Prehistory of Food: Appetites for Change, edited by C. Gosden and J. Hather, pp. 147–165. London: Routledge, 1999.
• Spirit Bird Journey, Denver: RKLOG Press, 1999
• (with K.L. Berry, R.F. Carillo, B.J. Clark, L.E. Rhodes, and D. Saitta) Denver: An Archaeological History. Scholarly Book Services Inc., 2002. ISBN 978-0-8122-3591-3
• (editor) Ancient Queens: Archaeological Explorations, Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7591-0346-7
• Jade Dragon, Denver: RKLOG Press, 2004
• (editor) Handbook of Gender in Archaeology, Walnut Creek CA: AltaMira Press, 2006
• Shamans, Queens and Figurines, The Development of Gender Archaeology Walnut Creek CA: Left Coast Press 2016
• Ancient China's Tiger Queen, CreateSpace, 2018

• B.A., Biblical History, Wellesley College, 1953;
• M.A., Anthropology, University of Michigan, 1969;
• Ph.D., Anthropology (Archaeology), University of Michigan, 1973

Sarah Milledge Nelson was Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Denver. Her past positions held include:^[6]

• 1996-2007, University of Denver, Distinguished Professor
• 1985-1996, University of Denver, Professor
• 1979–1985, University of Denver, Associate Professor;
• 1974–1979, University of Denver, Assistant Professor;
• 1974, University of Colorado, Boulder, Visiting Assistant Professor;
• 1971, University of Maryland, Far East Division, (Korea), Instructor;
• 1970, University of Denver, Part-time Instructor

Nelson was president of the Society of East Asian Archaeology (1998–2004)

• Jeulmun Pottery Period
• Korean Three Kingdoms
• Choi Mong-lyong
• Kim Won-yong
• Richard J. Pearson
• Sim Bong-geun