Marco Crisciotti Among the most powerful expressions of intimacy and connection, the kiss holds a special place in the universal language of human gestures. Let's discover its origin which is not strictly romantic
The kiss-quiveringly symbolic of love, desire, and passion-is an instant snapshot of two people in love. Today’s romantic perception of kissing, universally accepted, may trace its roots to very surprising origins steeped not in affection but in the primeval need to survive.
The ancient roots of the kiss
Recent research by Adriano R. Lameira, associate professor of psychology at the University of Warwick in England, suggests otherwise-that the human kiss developed from a far less sentimental practice. According to Lameira, instead of a demonstration of love, kissing evolved as part of an ancient grooming ritual taken from our primate ancestors. He describes the practice as one that had its origins in times when impurities and parasites on other people’s skin were removed by direct mouth-to-skin contact. In early primate lives, grooming did not stop at cleanliness; it became an essential activity for maintaining health both individually and within the group.
Kissing as cleaning
Lameira’s hypothesis is based on observations of modern monkeys, in particular those using their mouths to clean the fur or skin of fellow members. The kiss might represent the final phase of grooming during which small particles of dirt or parasites were removed by mouth. Such activity among the primates encouraged hygiene and also strengthened social bonds, possibly setting a precedent for the affectionate touch we know.
As human evolution proceeded, and body hair started to shrink, this form of grooming became less needed, and the act of physical care lost its initial purpose. Yet, kissing kept on, slowly turning from a form of social bonding into romantic intimacy. Lameira theorizes that with this, humanity became the “kissing ape”, an evolution perhaps taking place between two and four million years ago. However, the earliest recorded mention of kissing comes from Mesopotamian texts dating back to 2500 B.C., which describes kissing both in social and romantic life and made it a certain cultural phenomenon.
It’s a mysterious process from where the hygienic act shifted to being an intimate one, getting linked with sexual intent. The romance and sexuality in kissing can be an evolutionary offshoot of primitive grooming behavior developing for reasons related to social and ritualistic human behavior, adds Lameira. While it is not clear how exactly kissing acquired the meaning of sexuality, once it was accepted by society as a general expression of affection, it must have attained a symbolic meaning.
Kissing is a complex and multilayered activity today, with a great deal of latent meaning behind the act. Lameira calls it a “crystallized symbol of trust and affiliation,” communicating to both partners intimacy and security charged with deep emotional meaning. This definition, while appealingly romantic, still betrays its ancient origins-a vestigial grooming practice that has evolved to serve the needs and social functions of modern humans.
Thus, the journey of the kiss from being an ancient survival practice to a contemporary expression of love reflects an interesting and complex evolution that weaves together some of the most ingrained needs of our ancestors with the most decisive symbols of modern culture. Kissing remains essentially a human gesture: a sign of belonging and relating back that ties us with our past yet defines our present.
