Yosmonkol

Contamination may actually be a concern here since AFAIK no independent analysis of the clay pipe fragments or the bones has been done yet, but it’d have to be 2 coked up pothead lab techs since the clay pipe fragments were tested in a police narcotics lab in South Africa while the bones were tested at the excavation site in Milan.

Francis Thackeray, in his 2025 article, suggests Sir Francis Drake could have acquired it when sailing in the area. Since traces of it were also discovered in 1600s Milan its possible that the spanish were circulating it. This 2024 study discusses how the Spanish at least knew of it as early as 1499.

Here’s the paper for anyone interested. TLDR: In 2001 cocain residue was found alongside tobacco and hemp residue. There were also refrences to drugs in art and poems that the author supposes are cocain and cannabis. Fastwarward to 2023 when traces of cocain THC & CBD were found in bones from Milan. Today the author of the 2001 study is using the 2023 results to support his findings. As far as I can tell no one else has tried to test the pipe fragments.

John Conway and CM Koseman did modern animals drawn like dinosaur illustrations. I can’t find the original posts but here’s a buzzfeed article with a good assortment, including a reptilian rendition of a cat.

Wild turkeys teach their young, through demonstration, how to forage, and avoid dangers. For a domesticated turkey poult the human takes the role of the parent & teacher. To top it off the wild turkey hasn’t lost its instincts through selective breeding like the domesticated turkey.

Never had a bird beg, but they do seem attracted by the sounds of filling the feeder.

We had robins in late January this year, when they typically don’t arrive until mid March. Since the ground was still frozen they had to live off of the shrivelled buckthorn and honeysuckle berries from last autumn.