# Origin of kissing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973 "2001-06-24T15:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/21 "2001-06-25T23:32:48Z")
Chronos: Surely you jest. Many children continue to nurse on and off even till two or three or even four or five. Depends on the culture. I agree that most American kids are weaned by then, but lots of women nurse kids with teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/22 "2001-06-26T00:37:47Z")
If it makes a difference I meant full blown fluid swapping kisses. But now that I think of it full contact kissing is probably just an evolved form of the closed mouth kiss. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/23 "2001-06-27T11:26:59Z")
FWIW, the History Channel (a.k.a. “Hitler Channel”) recently stated that kissing was a Roman invention. A persual of ancient art shows that is hooey. They say a lot of things that are off base. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/24 "2001-06-27T11:34:41Z")
I seem to recall reading somewhere that full-blown, tongue-in-the-mouth French kissing gained in popularity in medieval times - something to do with duke-types not trusting their arranged-marraige-to-expand-their-fiefdoms wives and swapping wine with them - so the wife would not be inclined to poison the wine… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/25 "2001-06-27T23:31:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by otto3883 \* > I didn’t think that any mammals out their pre-chewed their food. Once they get off of moms milk don’t they switch to getting thier own. What animals do this? And don’t give me any of that platapuss duckbill crap I mean a real mammal. Well, first of all, duckbill platypi ARE “real mammals”, and anyhow, they move from momma’s milk to adult food, no transition period. Anyhoo, as mentioned, dogs, other canids, and I think cats will also do the “pre-chew” things. But even so, humans are unique mammals in that our young are born particularly helpless and take a particularly long time to grow and develop. ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/26 "2001-06-28T05:09:41Z")
Sorry to offend all of the Platypi fans out there. I just used them as an example because they are mammals but yet lay eggs. I wanted a rule, not the exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/27 "2001-06-28T06:14:02Z")
I think there were some lipstick smooch marks found on a cave wall in France. ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973/28 "2001-06-28T07:48:07Z")
I understood that lipstick was a Roman prostitute invention, indicating oral sex ‘specialist’. (safer in terms of disease spreading) And thanks, JCHeckler, for calling the history channel for what it is! Whether early humans pre-chewed their food or not seems , to me, to have little to no relavence to sexual kissing. Think kissing feels good, AkashJ? Stick your tongue in a toddlers mouth. Yuck!!! Or into the mouth of someone other than your gender preference. Kissing seems to feel good the same way going "downtown’feels good. Recreational sex is good in your MIND, not your taste buds. I think the more interesting question would be why/how did oral sex gain favor. Yeah, I know, it feels good. But it must have been a radical concept at the time. And what was in it for the first ‘giver’? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-kissing/69973.md?page=1)