Discoveries

May 31, 2023

First Kiss

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Scientists and historians have debated when humans started the practice of kissing in a romantic and sexual sense.

Past studies have suggested familial or friendly pecks have been common between humans across time and geography, while the first evidence of romantic kissing traces back to 1500 BCE on the Indian subcontinent.

But a new paper on ancient Mesopotamian texts showed that humans have been smooching earlier than previously believed, according to the Guardian.

Researchers Troels Pank Arbøll and Sophie Lund Rasmussen analyzed clay tablets written in what is now Iraq and Syria around 2500 BCE. The texts were written in the cuneiform script and have been largely overlooked, the researchers noted.

They explained the old documents mention that kissing was something married couples did, but also what an unmarried person desired when in love. The findings also underscore that kissing did not begin in “any single region and spread from there but rather appears to have been practiced in multiple ancient cultures over several millennia,” said Arbøll.

The team noted that the behavior is also observed in our close primate relatives: Bonobos use kisses with a romantic-sexual intent, while chimpanzees give out platonic smooches to manage social relationships.

And because it might have been so widespread, kissing could have also unintentionally contributed to the spread of various oral pathogens and diseases, such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), which causes cold sores.

Even so, the authors cautioned that the texts’ contents cannot be read at face value and more investigation is needed.

This story originally appeared in the May 31, 2023 newsletter, Villains.