Researchers Troels Arbøll and Sophie Rasmussen have explored the historical impact of romantic-sexual kissing on the spread of orally transmitted diseases like HSV-1. Contradicting the belief that kissing rapidly accelerated disease transmission, they argue that the practice, dating back to 2500 BCE Mesopotamia, has had a long-term influence on disease spread. They also suggest such diseases might have been more prevalent in ancient and prehistoric times than previously believed.
In a Perspective, Troels Arbøll and Sophie Rasmussen review the ancient history of kissing, particularly the emergence of romantic-sexual kissing in Mesopotamia more than 4000 years ago and its role in the evolution and spread of orally transmitted diseases like herpes simplex
“Evidence indicates that kissing was a common practice in ancient times, potentially representing a constant influence on the spread of orally transmitted microbes, such as HSV-1,” write Arbøll and Rasmussen. Humans generally exhibit two main types of kissing – the friendly-parental kiss and the romantic-sexual kiss.
Although research has suggested that friendly-parental kissing is a ubiquitous behavior among humans across time and geography, romantic-sexual kissing is not culturally universal and tends to occur in stratified societies; Arbøll and Rasmussen highlight a body of overlooked evidence of romantic-sexual kissing occurring in ancient Mesopotamian texts from 2500 BCE.
Beyond its importance for social and sexual behavior, the emergence and act of this form of kissing may have had a secondary, unintended effect on disease transmission. Recent paleogenomics research has shown that common kiss-transmissible pathogens of today, including HSV-1, Epstein-Barr virus, and human parvovirus B19, were present in ancient historical and even prehistorical periods.
Arbøll and Rasmussen review ancient
“The ancient history of kissing” 18 May 2023, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adf0512
“Ancient herpes simplex 1 genomes reveal recent viral structure in Eurasia” by Meriam Guellil, Lucy van Dorp, Sarah A. Inskip, Jenna M. Dittmar, Lehti Saag, Kristiina Tambets, Ruoyun Hui, Alice Rose, Eugenia D’Atanasio, Aivar Kriiska, Liivi Varul, A. M. H. C. Koekkelkoren, Rimma D. Goldina, Craig Cessford, Anu Solnik, Mait Metspalu, Johannes Krause, Alexander Herbig, John E. Robb, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Christiana L. Scheib, 27 July 2022, Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo4435