U.S. archaeologists have managed to discover a British prisoner-of-war camp from the War of Independence era, the Associated Press reports.

The camp is located in the state of Pennsylvania in the town of York. Traces of a wooden paling that surrounded the camp site have been discovered in the state of Pennsylvania in the town of York. The camp had been searched for decades and could not be found because there were no capital stone structures on the property.

The camp, opened in 1781, held more than 1,000 English, Scottish and Canadian privates and noncommissioned officers for 22 months during the war until it ended in 1783.

The core of the contingent was made up of prisoners captured during the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, during which American forces managed to destroy one of the two British armies on the continent. This victory led to a strategic turning point and direct French entry into the war against Britain.