When was the first kiss between humans?

The kiss is a loving gesture that has transcended through time and, although it is difficult to determine exactly how it arose, there are facts in history that allow us to know more about the origins of this affectionate show.

In a post by Week it is indicated that the kiss first appears in hominids as an instinctive way for the mother to provide affection and care for her offspring, according to information collected from advanced anthropology studies. Through these it has been possible to know that the Cro-Magnon woman fed her young by first chewing the food and, later, passing it to her pup’s mouth from her own.

But this is not the only theory that exists about it. Another one is that he was born as a suction drive from infancy and lactation; an inheritance from the custom of some primitive tribes of smelling each other; and there is even the hypothesis that it is a cannibalistic tendencyit is pointed out in the article.

The first recorded kisses

Is in the India where the first records on the origin of kisses are found, which were carved in the year 2500 a. c. on the walls of the Khajuraho temples. To this is added the Kamasutra, sacred book of Vatsyayana that describes the natural divinity of sex, dating from the 3rd AD. C.; also included references to the practice of kissing as sexual. Three classes are described in these texts: the nominal, when the lips barely touch; the throbbing, in which only the lower lip moves; and the touching kiss, in which lips and tongue are used.

The theory about cultural expansion in the use of kissing as a sexual practice agrees with this: that originated in the Indian culture and that reached Europe in the classical period due to the invasions of Alexander the Great.

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In texts of the time, such as the Odyssey and the writings of Ovid, the kiss is spoken of as a symbol of affection, love or admiration. This gesture also appears in folklore and traditional Greek mythology in stories such as the story of Pygmalion and Galatea.

The kiss in every culture

This gesture has not always meant the same thing, because in different cultures and times it has had another connotation. For example, Persian men in ancient times kissed each other on the mouth, but only people of the same social level could do so. to establish pacts and unions.

In Celtic culture, on the other hand, the kiss was believed to have healing properties. Even in medieval Italy if a man kissed a maiden in public he was obliged to marry her immediately; Contrary to what happened with the French nobility, in which you could kiss any woman.

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Later, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the kiss is again a demonstration of courtesy and love between two people; In addition, it recovers its role as an element of sexual stimulation. This made it become an act that should only be practiced in private: because its practice was considered offensive and scandalous in public. The society of that time and the etiquette code censored the kiss.

From offensive to accepted

The artistic current of Romanticism arrives in the 19th century, and is marked by the wide expression of feelings by the authors. The exploitation of the kiss was then frequent, it ceased to represent a private practice and became something aesthetic.

However, during the first decades of the 20th century, the kiss was highly sexualized and, during those years, literature, painting and even cinema they began to use the kiss as a lascivious element.

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Finally, in the 1960s, the entire sexual revolution diminished and kissing became a natural and public practice, although it is not until the 90s that it stops representing something offensive and becomes a publicly accepted act. Although there is a generalized meaning of the kiss, in some cultures it still has different connotations. (I)