People were kissing 4,500 years ago - 1,000 years earlier than scientists thought
By studying clay tablets from the earliest Mesopotamian societies,
researchers say kissing was common and did not start in a specific
region. They believe it may even have contributed to the spread of cold
sores.
Scientists say they've found evidence ancient humans began kissing
around 4,500 years ago - 1,000 years earlier than was previously
thought.
Clay tablets, used in parts of modern-day Iraq and Syria,
suggest kissing was practised in the earliest Mesopotamian societies
and may even have contributed to the spread of cold sores.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen say they now believe
kissing was common across many cultures rather than starting in a
specific region.
This contradicts a previous hypothesis that the
earliest evidence of human lip kissing came from a specific part of
southern Asia 3,500 years ago.
The evidence is from clay tablets
written in cuneiform script, writing used by human cultures in ancient
Mesopotamia between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in present-day Iraq
and Syria.
Among the tablets showing such a scene was a Babylonian clay model
showing an erotic scene from 1800 BC, which appears to show a couple's
lips touching.
Dr Troels Pank Arboll, an expert on the history of
medicine in Mesopotamia at the University of Copenhagen, said: "Many
thousands of these clay tablets have survived to this day, and they
contain clear examples that kissing was considered a part of romantic
intimacy in ancient times, just as kissing could be part of friendships
and family members' relations.
"Therefore, kissing should not be regarded as a custom that originated
exclusively in any single region and spread from there but rather
appears to have been practised in multiple ancient cultures over several
millennia."
Studies on bonobos and chimpanzees - the closest living relatives to humans - have shown they engage in kissing.
This
suggests the practice of kissing is a fundamental behaviour in humans
and explains why it can be found across cultures, the scientists said.
The
researchers also said kissing may have accidentally helped spread
viruses such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), which causes cold sores.
From
a substantial collection of the Mesopotamian medical texts, they found
some of them "mention a disease with symptoms reminiscent of the herpes
simplex virus 1," Dr Arboll said.
But he added that ancient medical texts can be influenced by cultural
and religious concepts so they cannot be read at face value.
Dr
Arboll said the team found some similarities between the disease known
as buʾshanu in ancient medical texts from Mesopotamia and the symptoms
caused by herpes simplex infections.
He said: "The bu'shanu disease was located primarily in or around the
mouth and throat, and symptoms included vesicles in or around the mouth,
which is one of the dominant signs of herpes infection."
