We dug for trash and found treasure in George Washington’s formal South Grove! Here are pictures of some of the domestic artifacts unearthed. 

We learn a lot about the diet of the Washington household from faunal remains like this large bone.

Oysters were eaten and their shells crushed and burned to make mortar – 18th century recycling!

Rhenish chamberpots like this one help us understand ideas of hygiene in the 18th century.

This tiny, toy bowl is made of pewter and could have been used in a dollhouse. Washington purchased toys for Marth’s children as early as 1759.

This zigzag decorated, Nottingham-like stoneware drinking vessel is one of 26 tankards excavated from the pre-1775 layers of the South Grove Midden.

Fancy table glass could have served Washington’s favorite drink, Madeira.