Virginia: Dozens of bottles containing worms and fruits were found well preserved in the basement of the first US president, George Washington. Experts made the discovery during an excavation project focused on ancient artifacts.
According to Jason Burrows, Mount Vernon’s Historic Monument Specialist, there is no other example of such a well-preserved food being found from 250 years ago. The discovery of new fruits after 250 years is very unusual.
Some bottles were found to contain all parts of the fruit, known as cherries, while other bottles of holes contained flowers or currants. But experiments are underway to confirm this.
Mount Vernon, in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture, conducted DNA testing on the found fruit to determine its authenticity. In addition, more than 50 cherry seeds from the bottle were evaluated to determine whether they could successfully germinate.
