Culture and Society
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The walls of Mount Vernon, American Founding Father George Washington’s former residence, were likely witness to all sorts of historical secrets we’ll never know about, but it turns out there’s plenty to be found under the floorboards too – nearly 30 glass bottles of “perfectly preserved” cherries and berries, in fact.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.It all started back in May of this year, when archaeologists working as part of the Mansion Revitalization Project – an effort to preserve the landmark building – discovered two intact 18th century bottles containing liquid, cherries, and pits in the mansion’s cellar.
That team has now uncovered a further 35 glass bottles within the cellar’s storage pits. They’re believed to be about 250 years old and remarkably, 29 were found intact with the fruit inside preserved.
The process of removing the bottles so that they could be analyzed was painstakingly slow, albeit for good reason.
“These artifacts likely haven’t seen the light of day since before the American Revolution, perhaps forgotten when George Washington departed Mount Vernon to take command of the Continental Army,” said Mount Vernon President and CEO Doug Bradburn in a statement. “This means the bottles are extremely fragile and require the utmost care.”
To learn more about the bottles’ contents, the team at Mount Vernon has partnered up with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.
Their investigation is still in the early stages, but so far has uncovered 54 cherry pits, 23 stems, and cherry pulp, likely from fruit of a more acidic variety to help keep it preserved. There may also be berries in the bottle, believed to be gooseberries or currants.
It’s hoped that DNA analysis will reveal exactly what species of cherries are present, and that they might be brought back to life by using the pits inside – though that’s easier said than done.
As Victoria Meakem, a molecular biologist at the Plant Genetic Resources Unit, told The Washington Post: “We broke open a few pits, and they were waterlogged, so that kills the potential to germinate it. But it’s something we’ve thought about.”
In the meantime, microscopic analysis has suggested how the cherries were picked – by neatly snipping them from the trees with shears, purposely leaving the stems attached. Everything about the bottles indicates careful preparation was involved.
“These perfectly preserved fruits picked and prepared more than 250 years ago provide an incredibly rare opportunity to contribute to our knowledge of the 18th-century environment, plantation foodways, and the origins of American cuisine,” said Mount Vernon Principal Archaeologist Jason Boroughs.
Unfortunately, not everyone at Mount Vernon would’ve had the opportunity to sample that cuisine – Washington had slaves, who were likely responsible for the meticulous picking and preservation.
Boroughs continued: “The bottles and contents are a testament to the knowledge and skill of the enslaved people who managed the food preparations from tree to table, including Doll, the cook brought to Mount Vernon by Martha Washington in 1759 and charged with oversight of the estate’s kitchen.”
