An upcoming study in the October issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science reveals the first documented evidence of cocaine use in Europeans.
Italy may have always been an underrated party capital for Europe, or at least as far back as the 17th century (1600s). Remains of well-preserved mummified brains found inside the Ca’Granada crypt were analyzed by researchers from the University of Milan, and tested positive for the plant from which cocaine is derived (Erythroxylum coca).
Party jokes aside, the crypt is actually a burial site near a major hospital from the period, the Ospedale Maggiore, which predominantly treated Milan’s poor. Of the nine samples the team took, two tested positive for the plant. “Given that the plant was not listed inside the detailed hospital pharmacopeia, it may not have been given as a medicinal remedy but may have been used for other…
