Archaeologists found perfectly preserved cherries at Mount Vernon, ABC News reported Monday.
Archaeological findings at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate uncovered a collection of preserved fruits, according to ABC News. During a restoration project along the Potomac River, archaeologists discovered 35 bottles from storage pits in the cellar of Washington’s mansion, some still containing cherries and berries preserved over 250 years.
Several glass bottles filled with perfectly preserved cherries and berries have been unearthed at George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion.
Read more at the link below:https://t.co/ADbl9uxoqC
— ABC News 4 (@ABCNews4) June 17, 2024
Jason Boroughs, the principal archaeologist at Mount Vernon, described the discovery as unprecedented due to the exceptional condition of the preserved fruits. (RELATED: 200-Year-Old George Washington Painting Thieved From Storage Facility, Police Say)
“Finding what is essentially fresh fruit, 250 years later, is pretty spectacular,” Boroughs said, ABC News reported. “All the stars sort of have to align in the right manner for that to happen.”
The bottles contained whole cherries and other fruits thought to be gooseberries or currants, with DNA and chemical testing currently underway in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to confirm their identities and possibly identify any preservation methods used, the outlet stated. This discovery also provides a window into the social history of Mount Vernon. The fruits were likely preserved under the oversight of Doll, an enslaved woman who managed the plantation’s kitchen after arriving with Martha Washington in 1758.
UNITED STATES – CIRCA 1950s: George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, Virginia. (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/Retrofile/Getty Images)
The skill required for this type of preservation highlights the expertise and role enslaved individuals played in the daily and economic operations at Mount Vernon, the outlet reported. Historical records suggest that George and Martha Washington had a particular fondness for cherries, incorporating them into various recipes, including Martha’s recipe for a “cherry bounce” cocktail.
The ongoing $40 million revitalization project at the mansion, set to be completed by 2026 in time for the nation’s 250th birthday, prompted the archaeological digs that led to these findings, ABC News reported. The timing of the fruit bottling has been pinpointed to before 1775, as it was then that an expansion covered the area with a brick floor, sealing the bottles underground until now.
