In the 17th century the opium poppy was administered to patients as a sedative and to soothe coughs and pain, according to the analysis of bone remains and brain tissue samples found in the Sepolcreto, or burial ground, of the Cà Granda, Milan's historic hospital and one of the oldest in Italy, founded by Duke Francesco Sforza in 1456. The findings are published in Scientific Reports by the University of Milan, coordinated by Gaia Giordano, a doctoral student in translational medicine, and Mirko Mattia, curator and custodian of the Anthropological collection of the Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology and Odontology (Labanof) and the University Museum of Anthropological, Forensic and Medical Sciences for Human Rights (Musa), under the guidance of anatomopathologist Cristina Cattaneo and forensic toxicologist Domenico Di Candia.
Using innovative archaeotoxicology techniques, the researchers analyzed nine well-preserved brains and skulls of origin. The results show the presence of active ingredients from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), namely morphine, noscapine, papaverine and codeine. The traces were found in 6 of the 9 subjects tested.
"The results obtained in this work constitute the first report on the detection of opium in archaeological bone remains," say Mirko Mattia and Lucie Biehler-Gomez, a Labanof paleopathologist and co-author of the publication.
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