Who were the world's first snoggers?

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WHO did it first? Why do we do it? People have long tried to make sense of kissing's many meanings.

The 17th century German scholar Martin von Kempe wrote an encyclopaedia of kissing that recognized 20 different types. The German language has words for 30 different kinds of kisses. How does a single act carry so many messages?

There are two possibilities: Either the kiss is a human universal, like language and laughter, that unites us all. Or it is a useful invention, like fire or wearing clothes.

Scientists have found evidence for both theories. Many animals lick each other's mouths. But only humans and a certain kind of monkeys engage in tongue-on-tongue kissing.

Even though this might suggest that kissing is in our genes, not all human cultures do it.

All across Africa, the Pacific and the Americas, there were cultures that didn't know about mouth-kissing until their first contact with European explorers. Public kissing is still seen as indecent in many places.

If kissing is not universal, then someone must have invented it. Vaughn Bryant, an American anthropologist, has traced the first recorded kiss back to India.

Ancient Indian scriptures around 1500 BC start to mention people \"sniffing\" with their mouths, and later texts describe lovers \"setting mouth to mouth\". From there, he says, the kiss spread westward when Alexander the Great conquered western part of India in 326 BC.

Some experts believe kissing started in humans when cave-living mothers would transfer food from their own mouths to their babies' mouths.