First kisses may have helped spread cold sore virus

Herpes sore

I always wonder why we kiss. How did this happen in the first place? Who kissed who the very first time? Why not a lick? Or a nose touch. Why a kiss?

Why not a lick? Or a nose touch.

Inuit do a sort of nose-touch, sniffing kiss thing. It's pretty interesting to see.

The fact that they don't kiss with their mouths says to me that kisses are cultural rather than instinct.

The researchers said the earliest known record of kissing was a manuscript from South Asia during the Bronze Age, suggesting the custom may have also migrated from Eurasia into Europe.

From Wikipedia -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss

The earliest reference to kissing-like behavior comes from the Vedas, Sanskrit scriptures that informed Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, around 3,500 years ago, according to Vaughn Bryant, an anthropologist at Texas A&M University who specializes in the history of the kiss.

Anthropologist Vaughn Bryant argues kissing spread from India to Europe after Alexander the Great conquered parts of Punjab in northern India in 326 BCE.

So everytime people kiss they can thank the ancient Indians for introducing the world to the practice. It's a different matter that public displays of affection are frowned upon in India today.

I knew only one comrad girl who had herpes once. She told me she had got it buly kissing a lover.

I can tell you, you don´t want to kiss somebody whith herpes sore, and french kisses is not a way of transmitting that disease (or French would all have herpes). French kiss is more like rubbing cheeks than actually kissing, and it is far from the mouth. This may explain that.

Around 2,000 years ago, the Roman Emperor Tiberius was believed to have attempted to ban kissing at official functions to prevent the spread of herpes.

I would have thought that kissing was the least of Tiberius' venereal worries. He had a jolly good time in Capri.

There's much scientifically supported to chastity and monogamy.

Derek GrebeAug. 4  05:45 pm JST

Around 2,000 years ago, the Roman Emperor Tiberius was believed to have attempted to ban kissing at official functions to prevent the spread of herpes.

I would have thought that kissing was the least of Tiberius' venereal worries. He had a jolly good time in Capri.

That may the problem, my dear Watson. Roman society was pretty decadent in the first place, and at parties, functions, etc. some people never stopped at just kissing - if you get the drift.