What is premastication and how is it connected to kissing?

undudelike

One theory of kissing prevalent among anthropologists contends that kissing originated from "premasctication". Although today we can buy soft baby food, this is not true in many cultures and especially in ancient primitive cultures. Premastication basically means "pre-chewing". A mother chews the food and then pushes the soft, pre-chewed food into her infant's mouth. This process involves mouth-to-mouth contact and is sometimes called "kiss-feeding". Many anthropologists think that is how kissing originated. http://melsantos.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html Dec 22 10, 9:49 AM

Windswept

One theory about kissing links it something much "older" called "premastication"; "premastication is when an adult, frequently a mother, chews food and then transfers the soft, premasticated food into the mouth of an infant or young child (Wickler 237). While most industrialized cultures have soft, enriched baby foods readily available, premastication was probably common in nearly all cultures through the ages (Wickler 241). Premastication also may have had a hand, in some cultures, in the development of the "romantic kiss." In the Ziller Valley of Central Europe, for example, the exchange of premasticated tobacco between a male and a female continues to be a popular romantic gesture." http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_culture/behaviors/kissing/kissing-essay.html Dec 22 10, 3:11 PM