Archaeologists find bottles of 250-year-old cherries under George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon

Archaeologistsmade a significant discovery, earlier this week,at the first United States President George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon. They unearthed two glass jars while excavating the cellar, which holds 250-year-old preserved cherries.

‘Forgotten bottles’

Amid an ongoing revitalisation project at Mount Vernon, archaeologists found two dark green glass bottles which were sealed and each contained a liquid, said a statement by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA), a non-profit organisation that preserves and maintains Washington’s estate.

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The bottles were found in the historic mansion’s cellar and each of them was full of cherries which are said to be more than two centuries old.

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It is also believed that the bottles were recovered from a “pit where they may have been forgotten and eventually buried beneath a brick floor laid in the 1770s,” said the statement from Mount Vernon.

After the discovery, the intact bottles were transported to Mount Vernon’s archaeology lab for further research where they were opened and unsealed.

Researchers also determined that removing the liquid would stabilise the glass that has not been exposed to the atmosphere for around two centuries.

What did the bottles contain?

Mount Vernon’s principal archaeologist, Jason Boroughs, told USA Today that the 250-year-old cherries actually looked like cherries and were described as having flesh, pits and stems. He also said that the liquid inside smelled like cherry blossoms.

The cherries, as per the team at Mount Vernon, “bore the characteristic scent of cherry blossoms familiar to residents of the region during the spring season.”

However, the research team working at Washington’s estate is not entirely sure about what that liquid is. Meanwhile, Boroughs said that the cherries may have been picked by enslaved labourers sometime between 1758 and 1776 and preserved this way so that they could be eaten later.

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“There are 18th-century accounts that talk about proper ways of preserving fruits and vegetables,” he told the Washington Post.

The researchers also speculated that the bottles’ contents could be remnants of Washington’s drink of choice, Cherry Bounce. The drink was reportedly made with brandy, spice, sugar and cherry juice. However, the drink was said to be stored in bigger bottles, so it seems unlikely and the theory was later ruled out by the team.

The bottles “can provide us with valuable insight and perspective into 18th-century lives at Mount Vernon,” said Boroughs.

He added, “These bottles have the potential to enrich the historic narrative, and we’re excited to have the contents analyzed so we can share this discovery with fellow researchers and the visiting public.”

(With inputs from agencies)