Article
For want of a nail? Proxies for analysing POW and guard access to supplies at a Confederate prison camp
Journal of Conflict Archaeology
(2020)
Abstract
Camp Lawton is a Confederate camp for Union PoWs in Georgia, USA. Built in 1864, inhabited for six weeks, and abandoned in advance of Sherman’s march to the sea, it is the focus of an ongoing research project. One of the key questions, yet unresolved, concerning Civil War POW camps is the lack of PoW access to essential supplies. Historical debates rage over the intentionality of these depravations, with a recurring argument asserting a universal privation, for guards and PoWS. The archaeology of internment camps can end this debate. Presented here are interpretations from recent fieldwork via an unlikely source: the machine-cut nail, analysed as a proxy in the absence of traditional evidence of subsistence and supply. Present in large numbers in PoW and guard areas, but clearly not architectural, this paper explores a narrative where nails, and the purpose for which they were put to, were not wanting.
Keywords
- Civil War,
- pows,
- supplies,
- nails,
- material Culture,
- Georgia,
- prisoners of War
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring February, 2020
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/15740773.2019.1732062
Citation Information
Ryan McNutt and Emily Jones. "For want of a nail? Proxies for analysing POW and guard access to supplies at a Confederate prison camp" Journal of Conflict Archaeology Vol. 14 Iss. 2 (2020) ISSN: 1574-0773 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ryan-mcnutt/24/