MOUNT VERNON, Va. (AP) — George Washington Contrary to the famous storyHowever, he did keep a significant number of jars of fruit in his Mount Vernon home.
During archaeological digs connected to the restoration project, dozens of impossibly preserved jars of cherries and berries were discovered in storage pits excavated in the basement of a mansion along the Potomac River.
Mount Vernon’s lead archaeologist, Jason Borrows, said the discovery of such a large amount of perfectly preserved food that is more than 250 years old is essentially unprecedented.
“It’s really amazing that after 250 years we could find fruit that is essentially fresh,” Borrows said in an interview. “All the stars have to align just right for that to happen.”
Some of the bottles contained whole pieces of fruit that appeared to be cherries, while others contained what appeared to be gooseberries or currants but tests are being conducted to confirm this.
Mount Vernon is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is conducting DNA testing on the fruit, and is also examining the more than 50 cherry pits recovered from the bottle to see if any can be planted.
“It’s pretty unlikely,” USDA plant geneticist Benjamin Gutierrez said of the possibility of using cherry seeds to grow trees. Seeds are best preserved when stored dry, but most of the samples found at Mount Vernon were submerged in water. The first few seeds tested were not viable.
Still, he says the jar is a noteworthy find: In addition to DNA testing, chemical tests may reveal whether certain spices were used to preserve the fruit, he says.
Mount Vernon records indicate that George and Martha Washington both liked cherries, at least when mixed with brandy: Martha Washington’s recipe for the “Cherry Bounce” cocktail still survives, and Washington wrote that she took a flask of Cherry Bounce with her on her journey across the Allegheny Mountains in 1784.
But those cherries were more likely bottled simply to be eaten as cherries, Borrows said.
The good state of preservation reflects the quality of the work. The plantation kitchen was run by slaves. It was managed by an enslaved woman named Dole, who came to Mount Vernon with Martha Washington in 1758, according to the estate.
“The enslaved people who tended the trees, picked the fruit, and worked in the kitchens were probably the ones who oversaw and carried out this process,” Borrows said. “It’s a highly skilled process, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to survive this way.”
The bottle was found in Mount Vernon. $40 million mansion renovation project It is scheduled to be completed by the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country in 2026.
“Archaeological research is a disruptive activity,” Borrows says, “so unless there’s a reason to disturb those resources, we tend not to do it.”
“In this case, the house needed structural repairs that would have disturbed the foundations, so that’s where I looked first,” he continued. “I didn’t expect to find anything like this.”
We know that the bottle dates to before 1775, because in that year the mansion was extended and the area was covered with a brick floor.
Mount Vernon announced the discovery of the two bottles when it began archaeological investigations in April. As excavations progressed, the number of bottles grew to 35 in six storage pits. Six of the bottles were broken, but the remaining 29 were intact. Twelve contained cherries, 16 contained other berries, likely currants or gooseberries, and one large bottle contained cherries and other berries.
Barras believes all the surviving cherries and berries have been found.
“There’s a lot of information that these bottles can provide that we’re excited about,” he said.
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This story has been updated to correct that 29 bottles, not 19, were found intact.