Summary Statement of Professional Development Assignment Results, Fall 2012
Andrew M. Mickelson
Department of Earth Sciences
amicklsn@memphis.edu
Two objectives were fulfilled during my fall 2013 Professional Development Appointment (PDA). First, I
was able to conduct research on the island of Crete, Greece with Colleagues from the Institute for
Aegean Prehistory Study Center for East Crete (INSTAP). Working with Directory Tom Brogan, we
conducted a geophysical survey of portions of the Bronze Age Middle Minoan period site of
Papadiokampos on the northeastern end of Crete. The second objective was to complete several
projects on western Tennessee archaeological sites dating to the Mississippian period (1000-1500 AD).
The Tennessee work was funded by a grant from the National Geographic Society. The results of the two
facets of my PDA work are outlined below.
The first portion of my PDA was spent on Crete, Greece, conducting a magnetometry survey of the
Minoan period site of Papadiokampos. This study was completed for INSTAP, a major facilitator for
conducting Aegean archaeology, and not only was important survey work completed, but institutional
ties were forged that will allow for students from the University of Memphis to participate in Greek
archaeology in the near future.
Papadiokampos consists of a small farming and fishing village located along the Sea of Crete.
Geophysical survey of portions of the unexcavated village revealed that several structures, including a
large compound, were buried beneath about 0.5 m of sediments. The magnetometry survey allowed for
INSTAP research to target areas for excavation in the summer of 2013. The geophysical survey also
provided a valuable dataset for analysis using inversion modeling to develop a three-dimensional model
of the site prior to excavation. Finally, this research was significant in the fact that it allowed for a more
precise estimate of the size of the prehistoric town of Papadiokampos, allowing for an estimate of its
population size, and the area exploited by it prehistoric farmers. A manuscript on this project is in
preparation.
The second portion of my PDA was spent completing work on my National Geographic Grant funded
study of prehistoric settlement patterns during the time frame of 1000-15000 AD. This research
included the testing, mapping and excavation of three sites in western Tennessee and allowed for the
acquisition of radiocarbon samples for precise dating of two of the sites, while geophysical mapping of
the third site revealed a previously unknown town covering several acres. This archaeological endeavor
has demonstrated that during 1000-1500 AD, western Tennessee like had about a dozen such towns
located off of major rivers systems. The work conclusively demonstrates that the area was not sparsely
inhabited by small farmsteads as once previously thought. Two MS students completed their master’s
theses as a result of this work and three manuscripts are in preparation for publication in 2013-14.