--- title: "Scientists Open Up 17th Century Cadavers, Discover Good Old Fashioned COCAINE" description: "Researchers made a surprising discovery while analyzing over 300-year-old, preserved brains found in a burial site in Milan: cocaine." date: "2024-08-24" modified: "2024-08-24" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/17th-century-brains-coca" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "cocaine" - "cocaine addiction" - "europe" - "italy" --- # Scientists Open Up 17th Century Cadavers, Discover Good Old Fashioned COCAINE ![Researchers made a surprising discovery while analyzing over 300-year-old, preserved brains found in a burial site in Milan: cocaine.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* A team of researchers from the University of Milan [made a surprising discovery]() while analyzing centuries-old preserved brains found in a burial site in Milan. As detailed in [their study]() published in the *Journal of Archaeological Science,* the scientists found evidence that people in 17th-century Europe were already chewing on the leaves of the coca plant, which are used to make cocaine. The findings suggest that people in the continent were indulging in the drug far earlier than previously thought. While people in South America have been known to chew on the energizing leaves of the coca plant for thousands of years, it's the first evidence of the plant's use in Europe before the 19th century, "backdating our understanding of the presence of the plant by almost two centuries," according to the paper. The team had previously discovered the mummified remains of two people in the Ca' Granda crypt, a site that was used as a burial site throughout the 17th century, serving as the final resting grounds for patients who died at the nearby Ospedale Maggiore hospital. While analyzing the bodies' preserved brains, they found the active components of the coca plant in both of them, indicating they were chewing on the plant's peppy leaves prior to their demise. Interestingly, evidence suggests that the pair weren't doing so as part of the treatment they were receiving at the hospital. "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 purposes," the researchers note in their paper. For instance, the leaves may have been "chewed for their reinforcing properties or for recreational purposes." The manufacturing of cocaine hydrochloride salts, the white powder we usually associate with the drug, only really began in the 19th century, quickly becoming a popular recreational drug throughout Europe — including [among the likes of Sigmund Freud](). But given the latest research, it looks like people in Europe were indulging in the drug far earlier than previously thought, highlighting some notable gaps in our knowledge of the plant's distribution worldwide. **More on cocaine:** *[Gangster Mark Zuckerberg Running Facebook Ads for Drugs Found To Be Laced With Fentanyl]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()