Kissing is not universal among human beings, and, even today,
there are some cultures that have no place for it. This suggests that
it is not innate or intuitive, as it so often seems to us. Another
possibility is that kissing is a learned behavior that evolved from
"kiss feeding," the process by which mothers in some cultures feed their
babies by passing masticated food from mouth-to-mouth. Yet, there are
some modern indigenous cultures in which kiss feeding is practiced, but
not social kissing. Kissing could also be a culturally determined form
of grooming behavior, or, at least in the case of deep or erotic
kissing, a representation, substitute for, and complement to,
penetrative intercourse.
Whatever the case, kissing behavior is
not unique to human beings. Primates such as Bonobo apes frequently kiss
one another; dogs and cats lick and nuzzle one another, and members of
other species; even snails and insects engage in antennal play. It could
be that, rather than kissing, these animals are in fact grooming,
smelling, or communicating with one another, but even so, their behavior
implies and strengthens trust and bonding.
Vedic texts from
ancient India seem to talk about kissing, and the Kama Sutra, which
probably dates back to the 2nd century, devotes an entire chapter to
modes of kissing. Some anthropologists have suggested that the Greeks
learned about erotic kissing from the Indians when Alexander the Great
invaded India in 326 BC. However, this need not mean that kissing
originated in India, or indeed that it does not predate the oral roots
of the Vedic texts. In Homer, which dates to the 9th century BC, King
Priam memorably kisses Achilles’ hand to plead for the return of his
son’s cadaver: