FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — The archaeologists were delighted to at last find the remains of George Washington’s boyhood home but got stumped when they looked for evidence of the cherry tree and rusty hatchet.

‘‘This was the setting for many important events in Washington’s life,’’ David Muraca, director of archaeology for The George Washington Foundation, announced Wednesday.

Most biographies offer little detail of the first president’s youth, so the discovery may provide insight into Washington’s childhood, he said. The site is located at Ferry Farm, just across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg, Va., about 50 miles south of Washington.

Philip Levy, associate professor of history at the University of South Florida, found evidence that the house was a one-and-a-half-story residence perched on a bluff overlooking the river. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080702-gw-house.html ‘‘If George Washington did indeed chop down a cherry tree, as generations of Americans have believed, this is where it happened,’’ said Levy. The researchers said the artifacts they have recovered did not include a hatchet.

Check it out here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080702-gw-house.html