“Madonna del Prignioniero Prega per Noi”: An Intimate Archaeology of a World War II Italian Prisoner-of-War Camp

Abstract

Camp Monticello, located in southeast Arkansas, served as a prisoner-of-war camp for Italians from 1943 to 1946. The spatial arrangement of the camp, which consists of two officers’ compounds and three enlisted men’s compounds, was structured according to the central principles of surveillance, discipline, and control. The institution provided the inmates’ food, clothing, and possessions. From mess-hall menus to a chapel, archaeological research reveals intimate information about the men and the ways they worked together to maintain their cultural identities and regain some of their individuality.