Traces of cocaine discovered in mummified brain tissue reveal that Europeans were chewing coca leaves — possibly for medical or recreational purposes — in the 17th century, two centuries before the earliest known documented use of the New World plant in the Old World, a new study finds.
Researchers discovered the remnants of cocaine in two individuals buried in a crypt that served as a burial ground at Ospedale Maggiore, a "pioneering hospital" in Milan that catered to the destitute, according to the study, which was published in the October issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.
