A new study has found evidence that Europeans were using cocaine as early as the 17th century, providing a new perspective on the drug's use centuries earlier than previously thought.
The discovery was made by a team of biomedical researchers during a toxicological analysis of the preserved brains of two people from the 1600s found in a basement in Milan, Italy. Using advanced forensic techniques, the researchers detected chemical traces associated with the coca plant, which contains the tropane alkaloid cocaine.
The findings, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, not only rewrite the timeline of drug use in Europe, but also provide new insights into the global trade networks that linked Europe and the Americas in the early modern period.
Additionally, because cocaine was not introduced as a medical treatment in Europe until the mid-19th century, this raises the intriguing possibility that Europeans may have been using the drug recreationally as early as the 1600s.
“As the plant was not described in a detailed hospital pharmacopoeia, it is possible that it was not given as a remedy but was used for other purposes,” the researchers wrote. “This study demonstrates the importance and potential of applying toxicological analyses in archaeological contexts, allowing us to date the arrival of the coca plant, Erythroxylum spp., in Europe by approximately 200 years.”
Cocaine, an alkaloid extracted from the coca leaf, has a history spanning both medical and recreational uses.
The coca plant, whose scientific name is Erythroxylum coca, grows almost exclusively in the Andean region of northern and western South America. Indigenous peoples of these regions have been chewing coca leaves for thousands of years, recognizing their stimulating properties to combat fatigue and altitude sickness.
Previous research has shown that people in what is now Peru have been communally chewing coca leaves since around 6000 BCE, and further research has found that coca consumption in northern Chile dates back at least 3,000 years.
Coca was first introduced to Europe in the 16th century, following the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Early records by explorers and missionaries noted its use by indigenous South American peoples, but these reports were often met with skepticism or ignored by Europeans who were more interested in other exotic imports such as tobacco, chocolate and gold.
It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that coca, and then cocaine, began to gain popularity among Europeans.
German chemist Friedrich Goedtke was the first to successfully isolate the cocaine alkaloid from the coca leaf in 1855. Four years later, Italian neurologist and anthropologist Dr. Paolo Mantegazza published an influential paper extolling the benefits of coca leaf and its ability to enhance cognitive function and physical strength.
Mantegazza's research and subsequent purified isolation sparked public interest in cocaine, and by the late 19th century the drug was being used in a variety of medicines, from tonics and lozenges to anesthetics, as well as in popular consumer products such as Coca-Cola.
But this recent discovery suggests that some Europeans may have been experimenting with coca and cocaine at least 200 years earlier than previously recorded.
This shows that some Europeans knew about and understood the effects of cocaine long before it became a mainstream substance, forcing historians to reconsider its role in European society.
In fact, cocaine use was unthinkable in Europe more than 400 years ago, so much so that the researchers discovered traces of cocaine alkaloids by chance while conducting toxicological analysis of human bones to better understand the pharmacological habits of people in 17th-century Milan.
The unexpected discovery came as researchers were examining eight skulls and eight remains of brain tissue from the remains of two mummies buried in the Ca' Granda crypt in the Beata Vergine Annunciata Church, adjacent to the Ospedale Maggiore (Great Hospital).
“In the 17th century, Ospedale Maggiore was one of Europe's pioneering hospitals, specializing in the treatment of acute illnesses among the city's poor and disadvantaged population,” the researchers write. “The church's crypt was used as a burial place for the hospital's deceased patients for almost the entire 17th century.”
The implications of this discovery go beyond the history of drug use; it also provides new information about the nature of international trade and cultural exchange in the early modern period. The fact that cocaine, a substance native to South America, was being used in Milan in the 1600s highlights the extent of global trade networks and the complex interactions between different cultures during this period.
The discovery also raises questions about how cocaine was perceived and used in 17th-century Europe. Although historical records are scarce, it is possible that coca and cocaine were used for their stimulating properties, similar to the use of coffee and tobacco during the same period. Such use of substances may have been part of a broader trend to experiment with new and unusual items brought to Europe through trade.
Furthermore, the location of the burial sites suggests that those showing signs of cocaine use were likely poor laborers, adding another dimension to the historical record by suggesting not only that cocaine was used, but that the leaf was relatively cheap and plentiful in 17th-century Europe.
Ultimately, the findings suggest that the seeds of cocaine's later popularity may have been sown much earlier than previously thought — a reminder that the history of drug use is often more complex and nuanced than it appears.
They also highlight the interconnectedness of the early modern world, with substances like cocaine traveling across oceans and continents long before they became part of mainstream culture.
“This study provides a better understanding of how cocaine use has changed in Europe over the centuries. Cocaine began as a recreational or medicinal substance, evolved into a medicine in the 19th century, and became a substance widely abused for its psychoactive effects, responsible for one in five overdose deaths worldwide in the 20th century,” the researchers said.
Tim McMillan is a former law enforcement executive, investigative reporter, and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing focuses primarily on defense, national security, intelligence, and psychology-related topics. You can follow Tim on Twitter. @LtTimMcMillan. Tim can be contacted via email at [email protected] or encrypted email at [email protected].
