Recent research has uncovered surprising evidence of cocaine use in early Europe. Chemical analyses were performed to prove the presence of this drug and its metabolites in the hair of two individual mummies from the crypt of Ca’ Granda in Milan, Italy. These results show that exposure to psychoactive substances coming from the New World could occur in Europe long before it was generally believed.
Using four sophisticated chemical analytical techniques, traces of cocaine, its metabolite benzoylecgonine, and the alkaloid hygrine were identified in hair preserved. These biomarkers point strongly to the fact that such individuals consumed coca plants probably by chewing the leaves-a practice quite common among indigenous peoples in South America.
New research suggests that Europeans were doing cocaine as early as the 1600s.
Traces of coca plant were found in two mummified brains from a 17th century Italian crypt. PIC.TWITTER.COM/AFHJEAMATZ
— Pop Base (@PopBase) SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
That find is an important one because it opens another perspective on what was taken as the timeline of the coming of coca and its derivatives to Europe. The literature mainly indicates the arrival of coca plants in Europe through returning traders and missionaries during the 16th and 17th centuries. How exactly this has been transmitted is yet speculative.
Despite these breakthrough findings, the investigation clearly has some marked limitations. The small sample size of only two mummified individuals prevents a majority of generalizing based upon their findings to show the prevalence of coca use in Europe during this time. Moreover, there is a potential issue with contamination of the samples that may determine the veracity of the results.
These limitations point to the need for further studies confirming how extensive the use of coca was in Europe, and under what cultural and social context such use took place. On the other hand, New World substances in Europe could indicate that experimentation with plants in both hemispheres started far earlier than historians usually believe. Other potential future research may involve the investigation of other mummified remains or other biological samples already preserved from other regions and periods, allowing further understanding of the coca plants’ diffusion and uses in Europe.
Although such a find is sure to raise some fascinating possibilities about early cultural and pharmacological exchanges across the Atlantic, more evidence is needed to support such a claim of the extent and significance of coca use in Europe than was previously documented.
