Archaeologists found two epic treasures beneath the floors of George Washington’s mansion

• Two sealed glass bottles full of cherries were discovered during a renovation project at George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion.
• The cherries, including the stems and pits, still had their characteristic scent.
• The two bottles are of typical 1750s style and were stored in a forgotten pit.

When archaeologists poured the liquid from two European-made bottles found under a brick floor in George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion, they enjoyed the scent of cherry blossoms. The once-forgotten, now-found bottles were likely filled with cherries before the Revolutionary War in the mid-1770s and have sat sealed – and preserved – ever since.

As part of a privately funded revitalization project at the Virginia mansion, a brick floor originally laid in the 1770s was torn up, revealing a small pit and the two side-by-side dark green glass bottles, both upright and sealed.

“Not only did we recover intact, sealed bottles, but they also contained organic material that can provide us with valuable insight and perspective into 18^Th-Century lives at Mount Vernon,” Jason Boroughs, Mount Vernon’s chief archaeologist, said in a statement. “These bottles have the potential to enrich the historical narrative and we are pleased that the contents will be analyzed so we can share this discovery with fellow researchers and the visiting public.”

After the bottles were discovered, each was taken to the Mount Vernon archeology laboratory. Experts concluded that removing the liquid contents could help stabilize the glass, which has not been directly exposed to the atmosphere for about two centuries. Full cherries, including stems and pits, were part of the liquid contents and exuded the region’s signature scent, a “blockbuster find of two fully intact glass bottles of liquid not seen since before the War for American Independence.” Doug Bradburn, president and CEO of Mount Vernon, said in a statement.

The glass bottles are from a European manufacturer and archaeologists say they likely date from the 1740s or 1750s based on their shape and style, which fits the time frame in which they had to be placed in the pit before ground installation in the 1770s . This probably makes the cherries predating the Revolutionary War.

While the Washingtons were known to be fans of cherries, they likely never touched upon the picking and storage of the two bottles, as at the time of George Washington’s death there were known to be over 300 enslaved persons at the site.

The archaeological team plans to ship the bottles for preservation purposes and send the contents to a laboratory for scientific analysis and testing.

Boroughs tells this Washington Post that the bottles probably only contained cherries when they were originally placed in their location, and that the amber liquid could be groundwater that got into the bottles as the corks sealing the bottles closed over the decades began to fail. Although there was liquid and a type of slime in the bottles, early analyzes support the only cherry theory, which was probably preserved to preserve the fruit for later use in cooking or baking.

“There are 18^Th “Reports from the century about the proper preservation of fruits and vegetables,” Boroughs tells the newspaper. “One of the most common methods, especially with berries, is to dry them as much as possible… put them in a dry bottle, cork them… and then bury them.”

This advice may still apply today, as the cherries retained their shape and scent 250 years later.