The Ancient Origins of Kissing and Its Impact on Disease Spread

Researchers Troels Arbøll and Sophie Rasmussen have examined the historical role of romantic-sexual kissing in the transmission of orally transmitted diseases, such as HSV-1, challenging the notion that kissing quickly accelerated disease spread. Dating back to 2500 BCE in Mesopotamia, kissing was a long-standing practice, suggesting that diseases may have been more prevalent in ancient times than previously thought. In their review, they argue that kissing was a consistent factor influencing the spread of pathogens, rather than acting as a sudden biological trigger for specific diseases.

Arbøll and Rasmussen differentiate between two types of kissing—friendly-parental and romantic-sexual—highlighting that while the former is common across cultures, romantic kissing is often limited to more stratified societies. Their research incorporates ancient DNA, artwork, and medical records, indicating that kiss-transmissible pathogens like HSV-1 were present in ancient populations. They conclude that kissing likely evolved not as an adaptation to increase disease transmission but as a social behavior with complex implications for health, following a study linking HSV-1 lineage changes to the emergence of sexual kissing in the Bronze Age. This perspective adds depth to our understanding of the interplay between cultural practices and health throughout history.



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