Archaeologists recently discovered two glass bottles filled with a mysterious liquid at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate in Virginia.
Archaeologist Nick Beard, who discovered the bottle, told FOX 5 DC that he was digging in the mansion’s basement as part of a revitalization project.
Beard found the top of the bottle, then the whole bottle, then noticed the second bottle. Amazingly, the bottle contained a liquid that had miraculously survived the past three centuries.
“Just the fact that there was liquid there really sets off alarm bells,” Beard said. “When you see water or liquid collecting like that, it means it’s very intact and in very good condition.”
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Archaeologists discovered the old bottle while digging in the basement of the mansion as part of a restoration project. (FOX5DC)
Experts believe the bottle originally contained cherries. Glass bottles were placed on the ground to refrigerate food from 1758 to 1776.
“For some reason, these were left behind and in their original condition. That’s why this is such a special find, because other than beautiful things like animal bones, intact 18th-century food remains Because we don’t find ‘durable,”’ Jason Borrows, Mount Vernon’s chief archaeologist, told FOX 5.
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Putting produce in jars and placing it underground was the most effective way to preserve produce from Virginia’s intense heat.
The liquid from the 300-year-old vase will be tested. It appears to be the remains of a cherry. (FOX5DC)
“One of the best ways to store this type of fruit and vegetable was to store it underground,” Borrows added. “So, a little after 1758, but before 1776, someone dug a hole…a rectangular-looking hole about a foot deep in one of the cellar floors, and put these bottles in there. and then filled with dark clay.”
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The orange liquid was poured out of the bottle and transferred to a new container for testing. Historians believe the discovery could not only shed light on how food was stored at Mount Vernon, but also reveal new details about slavery on the plantation. .
“This is an amazing thing for us. It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime things,” curator Lily Carhart told FOX 5.
Archaeologists say finding food remains in centuries-old bottles is extremely rare. (FOX5DC)
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Mount Vernon did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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