Dr. Michael Burer is Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the assistant project director for the NET Bible and has contributed various studies to the bible.org site. His first book - A New Reader's Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, co-authored with Jeff Miller - was published Fall of 2008.
I do not know the answer to this, but I'll ask around and see if I can learn anything about it. Sounds like an intriguing dissertation topic. Do you have a lot of evidence other than texts (drawings, artifacts, etc.) that you are working with? May God bless you as you make progress!