I am an archaeologist with a strong background in bioarchaeology, specializing in using stable isotope methods to reconstruct past lifeways. My works mostly involved using reconstructed dietary and mobility patterns to address a range of interrelated anthropological and archaeological questions. I am particularly interested in issues such as gender, social differentiation/inequalities, subsistence economies, migration, cultural changes, and human/environment relationships. Over the past 10 years, I have been involved in archaeological projects spanning wide temporal and geographical ranges, including Neolithic Iran, Neolithic France, Bronze Age China, Roman Britain, Medieval Italy, and many more.

Research interests

Bioarchaeology; palaeodiet; palaeomobility; palaeoclimate; palaeoecology; gender archaeology; stable isotope analysis (bulk and compound specific); big data analysis

Selected Publications

(For the most updated list please visit my google scholar page)

Capuzzo G, Fiorin E, De Lotto MAB, Betto A, Tasca G, Di Tonto S, Forlin P, Snoeck C, Cheung C

2025 Diet, Mobility, and Life Histories during the Early Medieval Period at San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 66: 105328.

Cheung C, Schwarcz H, Chisholm B

2024 Examining Prehistoric Diet at Tung Wan Tsai, Ma Wan Island, Hong Kong through Stable Isotope Analysis. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 19(1): 196-210.

Westbury MV, Brown SC, Lorenzen J, O’Neill S, Scott MB, McCuaig J, Cheung C, Armstrong E, Valdes PJ, Samaniego Castruita JA, Cabrera AA, Blom ST, Dietz R, Sonne C, Louis M, Galatius A, Fordham D, Ribeiro S, Szpak P, Lorenzen ED

2023 Impact of Holocene Enviornmental Change on the Evolutionary Ecology of an Arctic Top Predator. Science Advances 9(45): eadf3326.

Cheung C, Fernández-Crespo T, Mion L, Di Giusto M, Goude G, Macdonald RA, Richards MP, Herrscher E

2022 Micro-punches vs. Micro-slices for Serial Sampling of Human Dentine: Striking a Balance between Improved Temporal Resolution and Measuring Additional Isotope Systems. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 36(21): e9380.

Cheung C, Herrscher E, Thomas A

2022 Compound Specific Isotope Evidence Points to Use of Freshwater Resources as Weaning Food in Middle Neolithic Paris Basin. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 179(1): 118-133.

Cheung C, Spzak P

2021 Interpreting Past Human Diets Using Stable Isotope Mixing Models. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 28 (4): 1106 – 1142.

Guiry EJ, Orchard TJ, Royle TCA, Cheung C, Yang DY

2020 Dietary Plasticity and the Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). Quaternary Science Review 233: 106225.

Cheung C, Zhang H, Hepburn JC, Yang DY, Richards MP

2019 Stable Isotope and Dental Caries Data Reveal Abrupt Changes in Subsistence Economy in Ancient China in Response to Global Climate Change. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0218943.

Courses taught

ANTH1710/UGEC1633 Understanding Archaeology

ANTH2710/5710 Archaeology of China

ANTH2810/UGEB2502 Human Evolution

ANTH3820/5820 (previously ANTH3323/5323) Forensic Anthropology

ANTH4750/5750 Archaeology of Food

Awards

University Teaching Award 2025 – The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Exemplary Teaching Award in General Education 2024 – The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Faculty Teaching Award 2024 – The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Early Career Award 2024 – Research Grants Council, Hong Kong

Research grants and projects as P.I.

“Marine Palaeoecology of Hong Kong: A Pilot Archaeological Investigation” (2025-2026) – University of Manchester and Chinese University of Hong Kong Joint Research Seed Fund

“Motherhood in Turbulent Times – Reconstructing Breastfeeding and Weaning Practices in Medieval and Early Modern Italy using Stable Isotope Analysis” (2025-2028) – Research Grant Council, Hong Kong

“Tracking the Lombards: Diet, Mobility, and Cultural Changes in Early Medieval Italy” (2024-2025) – Direct Grant for Research, Chinese University of Hong Kong

“Archaeological Science in Hong Kong Initiative” (2023-2027) – Research Institutes for the Humanities, Chinese University of Hong Kong