It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of our colleague, Ling-yu Hung, on April 26, 2018 in Taiwan after a long battle with cancer. Ling-yu joined IU’s Department of Anthropology as an Assistant Professor in 2012 after completing her Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis, an M.A. in Archaeology from Peking University, and a B.A. in Anthropology from National Taiwan University. She was greatly admired as a colleague and friend, enhancing the quality of the department and maintaining an active research agenda despite her illness. During Ling-yu’s brief time on campus, she influenced many students and deepened the university’s connections with archaeologists in China and Taiwan.
Ling-yu Hung was an anthropological archeologist who specialized in the early complex societies of China and the prehistory of Taiwan. Her research was cutting edge in applying geoarchaeology and GIS technologies to the understanding of ancient communities. She had extensive fieldwork experience and conducted detailed ceramic analyses of Northern China’s Yangshao-Majiayao pottery, with a particular emphasis on craft specialization, ritual practice, and cultural interaction during the Neolithic period (ca. 7000–4000 years ago). At the time of her death, Ling-yu was planning a monograph on Majiayao culture, and she was involved in a multidisciplinary project in the middle Tao River Valley in northwestern China.
The College of Arts