In order to know the meaning of the term caveman, it is necessary to discover, first of all, its etymological origin. In this case, we can indicate that it derives from Latin and that it can be translated as “the one who lives in the caves”. It is the result of the sum of several clearly differentiated components such as these:
-The verb “cavare”, which is synonymous with “dig”.
– “Cola”, which is equivalent to “the one who lives”.
The notion of caveman refers to one who uses a cave as a home or refuge. A cavern, for its part, is a hole that exists underground or between rocks.
The notion of caveman used to name the prehistoric human being or their ancestors who lived in these caves. The concept became a stereotype: a caveman is an ancient man with long hair and a beard, who wears animal skins and uses a club to defend himself and attack.
The cave paintings are manifestations of the cavemen that demonstrate their link with the caves. These people embodied their ideas and beliefs on the walls of the caves with various pigments. The cave paintings, in fact, are a great source of knowledge that allows us, today, to know how the cavemen thought and acted.
It is important to note that cavemen, in reality, did not live permanently in caves, according to the conclusions reached by various historians. These were individuals who were constantly on the move, using the caves as temporary shelters or as gathering places.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that one of the theatrical works that has been spent the most time on stage in Spain is entitled “El cavernícola”. Not to mention that it has been in more than 30 countries and that it has managed to gather more than 8 million viewers.
In Spain the actor Nancho Novo is in charge of interpreting the monologue of this play, written by Rob Becker, which is a version of life from the point of view of man. Thus, issues such as relationships, male sensitivity, erogenous zones, feminism are addressed… And all this with a great sense of humor.
It took three years for its author to carry out this play and for this he did not hesitate to study and analyze anthropological, psychological, mythology-related, prehistoric texts…
In the same way, it should not be overlooked that there is another work entitled “La cavernícola” and which is the “female version” of the previous one. And it is a woman who makes all the aforementioned aspects known from her point of view. The authors of the same are Vanessa Frost and Emma Peirson.
Finally, the notion of caveman is used as a synonym for retrograde: that is, to refer to subjects who are opposed to changes and who are against innovations and progress. For example: “My father is a caveman! He did not let me out because he says my blouse was too low-cut “, ” There are cavemen who consider homosexuality to be a disease. “
