We have been working quite hard this summer to investigate Feature 41, the prison hospital latrine from 1863, and have taken many interesting things out. I wanted to share with you these new discoveries at Johnson’s Island. We have found so much eggshell that I can’t even imagine how many eggs it must represent. I […]

Over the last week, we began excavating the third level of the hospital latrine, bringing the latrine down to about 12 cm below the plow zone (actually to 61-64 cm below temporary datum!). At this depth, we are finally breaking through the clay that was placed on top of the waste to seal it. We […]

Over the past two weeks, we’ve been alternating between opening up the hospital latrine and finishing the units inside Block 6. We’ve mapped and excavated a number of potential postholes and wall supports inside the hospital area. Completion of the four units there has exposed more details of the floor plan as well as a […]

We are now investigating Feature 41 (F.41), the 1863 latrine from Block 6 at the site, and I thought I would give you some background on the excavation of it. As you can see from the plan map, we found three latrines in 1995 and 1996, all inside of the original wall for the prison. […]

For the first week of excavating in the prison hospital, we divided into two teams of four working in two 2 m2 units excavating the plow zone, the upper level of soil, disturbed by plowing but still containing artifacts. Our most common finds included nineteenth-century ceramics and glass, cut nails, brick, and flint pieces (from […]

We have started another field season at the Johnson’s Island Civil War Prison site and are hopeful to gather quite a bit of information about the hospital. Our goals this year are two-fold. First, we want to continue our exploration of the actual building site for the hospital. Second, we want to open up one […]