There are many practices that we may consider strange and not entirely romantic; however, kissing is one that, in most cultures, is seen as an expression of love and desire.
The origin of kissing can be simply understood as a statement of emotional freedom and the most intimate close encounter between two people.
From family members to friends, and our partners, kissing has been practiced for millions of years, and here we tell you more about its origin.
When did human beings start kissing?
There is a theory that portrays how touching our lips with others is a natural reflex to emotional stimulation that reminds us of one of the most important periods of our development: the act of breastfeeding.
This is the object of study of sciences such as psychology and philematology (science that studies the kiss and its reactions).
According to scientific studies, the ancestral transfer observed in chimpanzees, who chewed their offspring’s food before giving it directly to them and thus generated a kind of lip-to-lip bond, is also an antecedent of the kiss.
The emotions conveyed through kissing
Anthropologist William Jankowiak, a researcher on reflections on romantic love, sex, and intimacy, explained to the BBC the different forms of desire that arise before kissing.
“The more clothes you wear, the higher the frequency of kissing, the fewer clothes you wear, the lower the frequency of kissing,” he revealed to the media.
Jankowiak pointed out that in places like the Arctic Circle, their only available source of sensuality is the human face, and this allows them to create an intimate connection that goes beyond the naked body.
The sensitivity behind the kiss
In other theories about why humans kiss, there is a reason for the evolutionary purpose behind the transition from primates to what we are today as a species and our condition with the environment in biological and cultural terms.
Although in reality there are many more humans kissing than animals.
It is said that scent helps us to perceive illnesses, moods, and affinities, this makes that bringing our faces closer serves as a reinforcement for the use of our sense of smell as a tool of reception and transference.
This makes sense because animals have better developed olfactory skills and do not require that proximity to find out about other species.
Darwin and his annotations on kissing
The father of evolutionary theory argues that smelling is certainly a way of getting closer to each other and even describes how women in Malaysia would squat on the ground and men would lean over them to sniff each other, thus recognizing each other as a couple.
It should be noted that the oldest existing evidence of kissing-like behavior dates back to Hindu texts that are 3,500 years old.
On the other hand, it is important to mention that although it seems a natural action, many cultures do not kiss, since they do not consider it necessary to commit this act to demonstrate intimacy, love, desire, or friendship with the people they interact with frequently.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva.
