When in history did kissing on the lips become a sign of loving one another?

When (just a specific era or time period) was it overall decided that it was intimate between two people, particularly lovers, to kiss on the lips? Just an odd thought in the back of my head today...When in history did kissing on the lips become a sign of loving one another?
Historians really don't know much about the early history of kissing.


Four Vedic Sanskrit texts, written in India around 1500 B.C., appear to describe people kissing. This doesn't mean that nobody kissed before then, and it doesn't mean that Indians were the first to kiss. Artists and writers may have just considered kissing too private to depict in art or literature.





There aren't many records of kissing in the Western world until the days of the Roman Empire. Romans used kisses to greet friends and family members. Citizens kissed their rulers' hands. And, naturally, people kissed their romantic partners. The Romans even came up with three different categories for kissing:





* Osculum was a kiss on the cheek


* Basium was a kiss on the lips


* Savolium was a deep kiss





The Romans also started several kissing traditions that have lasted to the present day. In ancient Rome, couples became betrothed by kissing passionately in front of a group of people. This is probably one reason why modern couples kiss at the end of wedding ceremonies. Additionally, although most people today think of love letters as ';sealed with a kiss,'; kisses were used to seal legal and business agreements. Ancient Romans also used kissing as part of political campaigns. However, several ';kisses for votes'; scandals in 18th century England led - in theory - to candidates kissing only the very young and very old.


A kiss at the end of a wedding


Image courtesy Paul Anderson/MorgueFile


The kiss at the end of a wedding probably comes from ancient Roman kissing traditions.





Kissing played a role in the early Christian Church. Christians often greeted one another with an osculum pacis, or holy kiss. According to this tradition, the holy kiss caused a transfer of spirit between the two people kissing. Most researchers believe the purpose of this kiss was to establish familial bonds between the members of the church and to strengthen the community.When in history did kissing on the lips become a sign of loving one another?
I don't really have a time frame but I do remember hearing that ';primitive'; people well mothers mostly used to chew food up for their children and feed it to them with their mouth %26amp; that is how kissing started. After that it somehow moved on to what we call kissing today (minus the food!)
I guess it is because it meant that if two people shared a juicy kiss with each other, it shows they are both meant for each other and therefore, it is part of saying i will be with you forever. This is just my perspective.