Kissing began in the Middle East 4,500 years ago - a thousand years earlier than previously believed, according to new research.
Humanity’s earliest recorded kiss was in Mesopotamia - the historical region made up of present-day Iraq as well as parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey, concludes the study.
Previous research had suggested that the earliest evidence of human lip kissing originated in a very specific geographical location in South Asia 3,500 years ago, from where it may have spread to other regions, simultaneously accelerating the spread of the herpes simplex virus.
