Archaeologists found something incredibly rare in the cellar of George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon: Two intact jars of cherries buried in the basement of the first U.S. president’s house.
Nick Beard, project archeologist at Mount Vernon, told USA TODAY on Tuesday that he had been excavating the basement “for quite a while” when he saw the lip of one of the jars in November.
When the bottle started to peek out from the earth, he proceeded carefully but said he didn’t think it would turn out to be anything out of the ordinary, adding that it’s common to find wine bottles and glasses at the site about 15 miles south of Washington, D.C.
In fact, Beard stepped away from the bottles to help on a more immediate project. Only when he returned several weeks later did he realize what he discovered.
As he worked, more and more glass became exposed. He tried to wiggle the glass out of its resting place, but when he did his fingers got a little wet.
That’s when he noticed whatever he was working on was full of liquid.
“Which means if it’s that full of liquid then it has to be intact enough to hold that liquid,” said Beard. “That’s not common, so that immediately got me excited.”
