Old romantics! Kissing invented 4,500 years ago

TEENAGERS may like to act as if they invented it.

But kissing actually originated in the Middle East around 4,500 years ago, research suggests.

New evidence of romantic kissing has been discovered on clay tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia – now Iraq and Syria.

Unlike today, where a smooch can often lead to the bedroom, the earliest texts in the Sumerian language suggest it may have been a post-coital activity.

But some things haven’t changed, with one text describing how a married woman was almost led astray by a kiss from a man.

The research was carried out by husband and wife Dr Troels Pank Arboll, an expert on ancient Mesopotamia from the University of Copenhagen, and biologist Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen, of the University of Oxford.

Dr Rasmussen said: ‘ Kissing is something we take for granted, which feels like it has always been around, but it had to start somewhere, and we think it is older than previously believed.

‘The evidence from our closest relatives, the bonobos and chimpanzees, suggests we do it to create feelings of intimacy and bonding in our relationships.

‘But it also could help us evaluate a partner, because bad breath suggests something is wrong and they may not be healthy.’

The article, published in the journal Science, sheds light on how kissing was first perceived, based on the texts from ancient Mesopotamia, where public displays of affection were frowned upon. Kissing a priestess, a person who was likely to be celibate, was even believed to deprive the kisser of the ability to speak.

It was thought that the earliest evidence of kissing on the lips was in southern Asia 3,500 years ago.

The researchers also say kissing may have had a long-lasting effect on virus transmission. A disease called bu’shanu in ancient Mesopotamian medical texts may have referred to the cold sore virus.

Humans made fires in Europe at least 250,000 years ago – 50,000 years earlier than thought.

Scientists from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh found the evidence near Madrid, a study in the journal Nature Scientific Reports shows. The oldest sign of human-controlled fire comes from East Africa 1.5million years ago.