Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/HighStrangeness/comments/1v941yg/how_did_cocaine_and_nicotine_end_up_in_royal/

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The original was posted on /r/highstrangeness by /u/PristineHearing5955 on 2026-07-28 16:50:12+00:00.

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The spread and domestication history of the coca plant delivers striking evidence for the theory of anthropogenic dispersal of this species across the Atlantic in ancient times. The unique phyto chemical characteristics of this plant, its south hemispheric distribution pattern and its limited water dispersal ability of crop plants (cocaine as well as tobacco, fig. 5) support this theory. The reconstruction of those dispersal routes, and the identification of the proto-historical merchants involved in such contacts, poses a fascinating challenge for future research. Prehistoric trans-oceanic trade appears to be much older than accepted and published in the predominant mainstream literature. It was one decisive factor in the development of the first advanced civilizations. New discoveries of large "step pyramids‟ similar in architecture to those in the Mediterranean as well as on the Canary Islands and even a Phoenician wreck off the Azores, are emphasizing the intensity and importance of trans-Atlantic activities in the late Neolithic times [59, 60, 61]. The enigma of the occurrence of cocaine in Egyptian mummies is not capable of revealing all aspects of these trans-Atlantic interactions between the Old and New World, but the bio evidences strongly suggest regular trans-oceanic contacts long before the days of Columbus. The finding of nicotine and cocaine yields further evidence for the assumption that cosmopolition and internationalism are much older and part of our rich maritime heritage. Thus, prehistoric watercrafts were man's first major tool to explore and conquer the world.