As part of a $40 million Mansion Revitalisation Project, archaeologists have discovered two sealed 18th century glass bottles at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States.

Construction of the present manor began in 1734 by George Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, which was built in incremental stages by an unknown architect.

Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is owned and maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organisation in the United States.

From 2023 to 2026, the Mansion Revitalisation Project is conducting a landmark preservation project to safeguard the Mansion’s original building fabric and ensure its structural integrity.

During phase 1 of the project, archaeologists conducted small-scale excavations in the Mansion cellar where they discovered two intact European-manufactured bottles which date from the 1740s to 1750s.

Both bottles are made from a dark green glass and contain a liquid, which were recovered from a pit buried beneath the cellar’s 1770’s brick flooring.

Mount Vernon President & CEO Doug Bradburn, said: “We have made a number of interesting discoveries, including this blockbuster find of two fully intact glass bottles containing liquid that have not been seen since before the war for American independence.”

The bottles were sent for conservation and their contents shipped to a laboratory for a scientific analysis in a controlled environment.

The analysis revealed that the liquid contents still had the characteristic scent of cherry blossoms (familiar to residents of the region during the spring season), and also contained preserved cherries, including the stems and pits.

Header Image Credit : Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association

Sources : George Washington’s Mount Vernon

This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily

Archaeologists excavating Stuttgart’s Roman fort have uncovered a statue depicting a Roman god.

During the Roman period, Stuttgart was the site of Castra stative, a large Roman fort first constructed in AD 90 to protect the villas of the Stuttgart basin and the main highway from Mogontiacum (Mainz) to Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg).

Excavations at the Altenburgschule (Altenburg School) School ny archaeologists from ArchaeoBW and the State Office for Monument Preservation (LAD) have revealed traces of the fort, in addition to a stone sculpture made from sandstone.

The sculpture measures 30 centimetres in height and depicts a kneeling figure with a human head, however, the lower part of the body is that of a serpent, suggesting that the figure is a fusion of a Germano-Roman deity.

According to the archaeologists, the figure was part of a large column in dedication to Jupiter, where figures of deities crowned tall stone pillars erected in public squares. Similar examples excavated from the site and locality can be found in the collections of the Württemberg State Museum

The Stuttgard Regional Council said: “Overall, it is a great stroke of luck that the newly found statue can be linked to a fragment that has long been stored in the Württemberg State Museum depot.”

“This makes it possible to reconstruct a Jupiter giant column that was once placed in the area of ​​an important street intersection in the Roman settlement of Roman Suttgard. For archaeologists, this is another piece of the puzzle of the state capital Stuttgart’s rich Roman past.”

Header Image Credit: LAD/A. Thiel

Sources : Stuttgart Regional Council

This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily