Cherries are pictured for illustration. Preserved cherries were found inside bottles excavated at Mount Vernon | Wikimedia Commons
Archaeologists were excavating George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion and discovered 35 glass bottles from the 18th century, and 29 of them were still intact with preserved fruit inside. The bottles were found in five storage pits in the mansion’s cellar during the $40 million Mansion Revitalization Project. Only a small quantity of the samples had been analyzed when the initial findings were announced, which leaves further questions about the fruit, its variety and its preservation.
The bottle shapes are characteristic of styles from the 1740s and 1750s, and Mount Vernon says the bottles may have been forgotten in the pits. Mount Vernon Principal Archaeologist Jason Boroughs said that the material could contribute to research into 18th-century foodways, the environment and the origins of American cuisine. Most contained cherries, while some of the fruit was identified as likely gooseberries or currants. The careful preparation of the cherries is one reason archaeologists are interested in the discovery, since the cut stems, preserved pits and fruit pulp provide physical evidence of how the food was handled before it was stored. Mount Vernon has partnered with the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service to analyze the contents. Researchers can examine the fruit itself, rather than having to rely solely on written recipes or descriptions from the period. The physical evidence includes the fruit, pits, stems and the glass containers in which they were stored. The preserved fruit has become archaeological evidence of what was grown, prepared and stored at Mount Vernon, almost three centuries after the bottles were made. The remaining analysis could determine more about the cherries themselves and the food practices of the people who prepared them.
Scientists are examining whether any remain viable for germination, while DNA testing may help researchers compare the fruit with databases of heirloom varieties, which could help establish whether the cherries belonged to a variety that is still known today or one that has disappeared.
Mount Vernon has connected the discovery to the enslaved people who managed food production and preparation at the estate, including Doll, who was a cook brought to Mount Vernon by Martha Washington in 1759 and was charged with overseeing the kitchen. Documentary records show that wine, whiskey and brandy were kept there, along with turnips, potatoes, butter, beef and pork, and the newly discovered bottles therefore fit into a wider picture of how the Washington household stored food. The contents were carefully removed from the bottles and placed under refrigeration, and the glass was prepared for conservation. Mount Vernon also has a recipe for Cherry Bounce, which is a brandy-based cherry drink that was popular in the 18th century and known to have been enjoyed by George Washington. Researchers have not established that the newly discovered cherries were intended for Cherry Bounce, so the purpose of these particular bottles remains uncertain.
The discovery followed an earlier find in the cellar of two intact European-made bottles containing liquid, cherries and pits, and together, the finds gave archaeologists a rather well-preserved collection of biological material from Mount Vernon’s 18th-century household.
