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A caveman or troglodyte is a popular stock character based upon stereotyped concepts of the way in which early prehistoric humans or homininans may have looked and behaved. The cliché of "cavemen" originates with the discovery of Neanderthal remains. The term caveman, sometimes used colloquially to refer to Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon people (Homo sapiens of the Paleolithic era), has dropped from serious use because of its inaccuracy and dependence on certain misconceptions about early humans.

Archetype

In the past, the 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes held that the life of the human being without "civilization" was "...solitary, poore [sic], nasty, brutish and short". Heraldic "wildmen" or woodwoses occurred in European iconography for a long time, often shown as bearded, hairy all over and carrying huge clubs, but they were not always depicted as brutishly subhuman; in fact, often they're shown as fine physical specimens, influenced by classical depictions of Hercules. Existing prejudices concerning Pygmies and other primitive peoples informed the perception of cavemen. The modern scientific perception of prehistoric lifestyle is now that of the hunter-gatherer.

In these popularizations cavemen are portrayed as wearing shaggy animal hides, and armed with bone or wood clubs, unintelligent, and aggressive. Furthermore, cavemen are often shown as living in caves, where the ritual paintings had been found; it is more probable that the caves were religious gathering places or temporary shelter, and not the actual dwellings of the supposed "cavemen". If they had spent most of their time traveling and building temporary shelters, little evidence of them would exist today. Thus, expressions such as "living in a hole" have become cultural metaphors for a modern human who supposedly displays traits of brutishness or extreme ignorance. See also troglodyte.

Other errors in the "caveman" archetype include:

Humans did not begin wearing clothing until (at most) 107,000 years ago. Cavewoman clothing is commonly portrayed as covering the breasts; this owes more to Western mores than historical fact
Neolithic weaponry incorporated a wide range, including spears, stones, slings, axes and bows; not just clubs
"Cavemen" were of largely similar intelligence to modern humans

Stereotypes in culture

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1912) ape-men are depicted in a fight with modern humans. Edgar Rice Burroughs adapted this idea for The Land That Time Forgot (1915). A genre of caveman movies emerged, typified by D. W. Griffith's Man's Genesis (1912)[3]; they inspired Charles Chaplin's satiric take,^[1] in His Prehistoric Past (1914)[4] as well as Brute Force (1914)[5], The Cave Man (1912)[6], and later Cave Man (1934)[7]. From the descriptions, Griffiths's characters can't talk (handy for a silent film), and use sticks and stones for weapons, while the hero of Cave Man is a Tarzan-like figure who fights dinosaurs.

Depictions of the Paleolithic in the media

In fiction, especially as pure entertainment or satire, cavemen are sometimes depicted as living contemporaneously with dinosaurs, a situation contradicted by archaeological and paleontological evidence which shows that non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago, at which time true primates had not yet appeared.

In popular culture, the comic strips B.C., Alley Oop and occasionally The Far Side, and Gogs, portray "cavemen" in that way. The animated television series The Flintstones, a spoof on family sitcoms, portrays the Flintstones, not in caves, but in 1950s-1960s ranch-style homes that suggested caves and had stone fittings.

Stereotypical cavemen are also often featured in advertising, including advertisements for Minute Maid. More recently, GEICO launched a series of humorous television commercials and attempts at viral marketing, collectively known as the GEICO Cavemen advertising campaign, where GEICO announcers are repeatedly denounced by modern cavemen for perpetuating a stereotype of unintelligent, backward cavemen. The GEICO advertisements spawned a TV series called Cavemen (TV series) which is currently on indefinite hiatus.

Documentaries

Plays

''Defending the Caveman, Broadway 1995–1997, worldwide tour 1997--2008

References

^ Stills from Man's Genesis[1] and His Prehistoric Past [2] show that Chaplin still has his bowler hat.

[1] Stills from Man's Genesis[1] and His Prehistoric Past [2] show that Chaplin still has his bowler hat.

[1]

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 ==Archetype==
-In the past, many people shared the view{{Fact|date=September 2008}} of the 17th-century [[philosopher]] [[Thomas Hobbes]] that the life of the human being without "civilization" was "...solitary, poore [''sic''], nasty, brutish and short". Heraldic "wildmen" or [[woodwose]]s occurred in European iconography for a long time, often shown as bearded, hairy all over and carrying huge clubs, but they were not always depicted as brutishly subhuman; in fact, often they're shown as fine physical specimens, influenced by classical depictions of [[Hercules]]. Existing prejudices concerning [[Pygmies]] and other primitive peoples informed the perception of cavemen.  The modern scientific perception of prehistoric lifestyle is now that of the [[hunter-gatherer]].
+In the past, the 17th-century [[philosopher]] [[Thomas Hobbes]] held that the life of the human being without "civilization" was "...solitary, poore [''sic''], nasty, brutish and short". Heraldic "wildmen" or [[woodwose]]s occurred in European iconography for a long time, often shown as bearded, hairy all over and carrying huge clubs, but they were not always depicted as brutishly subhuman; in fact, often they're shown as fine physical specimens, influenced by classical depictions of [[Hercules]]. Existing prejudices concerning [[Pygmies]] and other primitive peoples informed the perception of cavemen.  The modern scientific perception of prehistoric lifestyle is now that of the [[hunter-gatherer]].
-In these popularizations cavemen are portrayed as wearing shaggy animal hides, and armed with bone or wood [[club (weapon)|clubs]], unintelligent, and [[aggressive]]. Furthermore, cavemen are often shown as living in [[caves]], where the ritual paintings had been found; it is more probable that the caves were religious gathering places or temporary shelter, and not the actual dwellings of the supposed "cavemen". Thus, expressions such as "living in a hole" have become cultural metaphors for a modern human who supposedly displays traits of brutishness or extreme ignorance. See also [[troglodyte]].
+In these popularizations cavemen are portrayed as wearing shaggy animal hides, and armed with bone or wood [[club (weapon)|clubs]], unintelligent, and [[aggressive]]. Furthermore, cavemen are often shown as living in [[caves]], where the ritual paintings had been found; it is more probable that the caves were religious gathering places or temporary shelter, and not the actual dwellings of the supposed "cavemen". If they had spent most of their time traveling and building temporary shelters, little evidence of them would exist today. Thus, expressions such as "living in a hole" have become cultural metaphors for a modern human who supposedly displays traits of brutishness or extreme ignorance. See also [[troglodyte]].
 Other errors in the "caveman" archetype include:

Revision as of 13:17, 27 March 2009

Archetype

Stereotypes in culture

Depictions of the Paleolithic in the media

Documentaries

Caveman characters

Movies

Novels

Plays

See also

References