Blame Bronze Age snoggers for modern-day cold sores...

BRONZE Age snogging could be to blame for modern-day cold sores.

Today’s herpes virus which causes painful cold sores is likely to have originated 5,000 years ago, based on discoveries in ancient human remains. Historical records also suggest snogging became popular around this time, with people from Asia introducing it to Europe. And scientists believe that the rise of kissing helped the herpes virus spread as it passed between people’s lips.

Researchers led by the University of Cambridge identified a virus closely related to the herpes simplex virus – which causes cold sores – after searching through the remains of 3,000 people spanning 1,000 years.

By tracking how quickly it mutates, they traced its emergence to 5,290 years ago. Herpes is believed to have originally emerged when humans spread out of Africa around 180,000 years ago. But it may have taken off only after the new strain identified emerged in the Bronze Age, helped along by kissing and people moving from Asia into Europe.

The findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.