Dr. Milton Moreland, Rhodes College
Principal Investigator
morelandm@rhodes.edu
Milton C. Moreland is Associate Director of the Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies and Associate Professor of Religious Studies, specializing in the New Testament. Dr. Moreland received his B.A. in History (with honors) at the University of Memphis, his M.A. in Religious Studies, and his Ph.D. in Religious Studies (concentration in New Testament and Christian Origins) from Claremont Graduate University. Prior to joining the Rhodes faculty, Dr. Moreland was an assistant professor at Huntingdon College and has been teaching since 1995. A field supervisor at an archaeological excavation in Galilee, Israel, Dr. Moreland has also traveled and led student groups to Greece, Turkey, and Jordan. His scholarly interests include archaeology, the New Testament, Christian origins, and historiography.
Dr. Ryan Byrne, Rhodes College
Principal Investigator
byrner@rhodes.edu
Ryan Byrne is the Director of the Archaeology Program at Rhodes College and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the Johns Hopkins University, as well as degrees in Archaeology, History and Religion from the University of Redlands in California. Byrne’s research largely concerns the interdisciplinary connections between social history, cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics and archaeology. His interests include the history and anthropology of the ancient Near East (Levant, Mesopotamia, Egypt); historiography and critical theory; West Semitic epigraphy and papyrology; comparative archaeology of slavery; archaeology of political authority (empires, history of the state, display, architectural theory); political economy (subsistence, commodification, labor, gender and exchange); anthropology of writing systems; cultural property preservation and the antiquities market. In addition to the Ames expedition, Byrne co-directs the archaeological excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel. Tel Dan is famous for its discovery of the House of David inscription, a ninth-century BCE Aramaic inscription featuring the oldest historical reference to the Hebrew Bible’s King David. Tel Dan also boasts the world’s oldest intact arched gateway at 4000 years old, as well as the temple attributed to Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12). Byrne is particularly interested in whether comparative work in historical archaeology can facilitate a theoretical apparatus with which to study the material culture of slavery in different cultural contexts. The contiguous land base at Ames offers a unique opportunity to conduct comparative studies of the smaller plantations that comprised about ninety percent of the free planter classes.
Dr. Andrew Mickelson, University of Memphis
Principal Investigator
amicklsn@memphis.edu
Dr. Mickelson’s current research interests include examining temporal changes in prehistoric settlement patterns in eastern North America. He is interested in the relationships between prehistoric land use, environmental change, and subsistence practices. His study areas include western Tennessee and eastern Kentucky. He conducts archaeological spatial analysis utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the methodological, analytical, and theoretical stages of archaeology research. His fieldwork employs the use of GIS and GPS to develop and implement statistically robust sampling designs. His theoretical interests include evolutionary ecology, cultural ecology, and evolutionary archaeology.
Guy G. Weaver, Weaver & Associates, LLC
Field Director
gweaver@weaverassociatesllc.com
Guy Weaver serves as Senior Archaeologist/General Manager for Weaver & Associates, LLC. He received his B.A. (1975) and M.A. (1978) in Anthropology from the University of Memphis, and completed course work for Ph.D. candidacy (A.B.D.) in Anthropology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Mr. Weaver specializes in Historical and Prehistoric Archaeology of the Southeastern U.S. and West Indies, and is a member of the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA). He has 30 years experience in cultural resource management and has supervised archaeological investigations for a number of organizations, including the the University of Memphis, Southern Illinois University, Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He has conducted architecture surveys, and has designed and executed museum exhibits. Before forming Weaver & Associates in 1998, Mr. Weaver was Office Manager and Senior Archaeologist for Garrow & Associates and was Vice President and Office Chief for Brockington and Associates’ Memphis Office. A past president of Memphis Heritage, Inc., Mr. Weaver also served as a member of the Mayor’s Citizens Advisor Committee for the Preparation of a Preservation Plan for the City of Memphis, and is active in preservation education and preservation planning. He has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis, Department of Anthropology, and is a founder and director for The Friends of Chucalissa. He presently serves as President of the Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology.
Jamie Evans, Ames Plantation
Ames Plantation Liaison
jevans@amesplantation.org
Jamie Evans is the Assistant Superintendent of the Ames Plantation, responsible for running most of the day-to-day operations of the agriculture, livestock, logging, hunting, quail research, and conservation efforts. Trained as an archaeologist (M.A. in archaeology from the University of Memphis), Mr. Evans has dedicated much of the past twenty-five years to the recovery and collection of historical documents detailing the settlement of the West Tennessee landscape since the early nineteenth century. It is due to his brilliant historical work (including the identification of hundreds of archaeological sites on the Ames land base) that the Rhodes project has enjoyed unprecedented early success. Mr. Evans has worked tirelessly with faculty and students from Rhodes over the past few years as they together have forged an invaluable collaborative relationship of scholarship and friendship.
Dr. Katherine Mickelson, Rhodes College and University of Memphis
Archaeobotanist
Dr. Mickelson is a specialist in the physical and chemical factors affecting the preservation of organic materials at archaeological sites. She earned her Ph.D. at the Ohio State University and has taught at the University of Alabama, Rhodes College, and the University of Memphis. At Rhodes, she has offered courses on the Archaeology of North America, Human Evolution, and Anthropology. Her analysis of the botanical remains from Ames, as well as her mentoring of students in this specialty, will play a crucial role in the reconstruction of lifeways in both the prehistoric and historical periods.
Anna Inman, University of Memphis
Assistant Field Director and Majordomo
A specialist in GIS/GPS, Ms. Inman earned her M.A. in archaeology from the University of Memphis. She manages the Ames laboratory and oversees the inventorying of all artifacts. Ms. Inman has played as especially important lead role in the georeferencing components of the Rhodes project, as the team attempts to reconcile the topography of the landscape with archival maps, aerial photographs and satellite data points.
Dusty Long, Rhodes College
Capo regime
londj@rhodes.edu
Mr. Long is a research assistant (RSAP) in the Rhodes Archaeology Program and co-manager of the Rhodes archaeology laboratory (with fellow research assistant Julianne Lindner). He supervises the collection of GIS data and tutors students in the use of the total station surveying equipment. Mr. Long is currently in Tanzania, where he is studying ecology and gathering data pertinent to the East African slave trade.
The 2007 Team
No excavation can succeed without the tireless efforts of its student archaeologists. Whether in the field or the lab, this crew of enthusiastic Rhodes students formed the heart and soul of the inaugural season of work at Ames.
Back row: Will Cauthorn, Jay Jordan, Molly Bombardi-Mount, Amy Huffenus, Tracy Barnhill, Blake Martin, Jesse Weaver, Dusty Long, Ethan McClelland; Middle row: Dr. Milton Moreland, Avery Pribila, Rachel Austin, Caroline Reid, Morgan Pittman, Lindsay Plunk, Kelly White, Elizabeth Welch, Cailin Meyer, Hannah Spirrison; Bottom row: Dr. Ryan Byrne, Guy Weaver, Dustin Sump, Marcus Moreland, Micah Moreland.
