Despite my comment further below, I was able to return to this
The ?cultural myth of the mating behavior of cavemen? is first
referred to in the 19th century in Prehistoric fiction - adventure
stories set in the remotest human past. There is a gradual move
towards this myth and it appears that it was in the 1920s that it
become widely used to describe the general loutish behaviour of men.
Later it became more a source of humour appearing particularly in
cartoons. I have been unable to find academic documents of the period
speculating on human mating habits in prehistory.
I would like to refer you to this excellent site on the literary genre
of Prehistoric fiction.
It explains that one of the first Prehistoric fiction was "Etudes
antédeluviennes ? Paris avant les hommes. L'Homme fossil" (Paris
Before Man) by Pierre Boitard, 1861. You will see from the below
extract and the frontispiece print that the image of a club wielding
cave man protecting his wife is used.
?These disgusting animals exhaled an odor so fetid, resulting from
their dirtiness, that I held my nose while asking the genie in a low
voice what these extraordinary beasts could be. To this question, the
devil let loose a long and loud burst of laughter that woke up them.
The female ran to the depths of the cave, carrying away her kid
clinging strongly to her breast. But the male let loose a guttural and
ferocious roar, flashed a look at me, rose up on his hind legs, seized
with his front the tomahawk of flint, and, with a furious jump,
launched himself at my side while raising the terrifying weapon at my
You may wish to explore the rest of the introductory page on this site
and this article.
An International Bibliography of Prehistoric Fiction
The earliest specific reference I can find is in 1886. Andrew Lang
wrote a short story in ?In the Wrong Paradise and Other Stories.?
where he refers to ?ladies had been knocked on the head and dragged
home, according to the marriage customs of the period?.
?Why-Why, as our Hero was commonly called in the tribe, was born, long
before Romulus built his wall, in a cave which may still be observed
in the neighborhood of Mentone. On the warm shores of the
Mediterranean, protected from winds by a wall of rock, the group of
which Why-Why was the offspring had attained conditions of comparative
comfort. The remains of their dinners, many feet deep, still
constitute the flooring of the cave, and the tourist, as he pokes the
soil with the point of his umbrella, turns up bits of bone, shreds of
chipped flint, and other interesting relics. In the big cave lived
several little families, all named by the names of their mothers.
Those ladies had been knocked on the head and dragged home, according
to the marriage customs of the period, from places as distant as the
modern Marseilles and Genoa.?
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
A similar aggressive attitude towards women appears in The Wolf's Long
Howl, by Stanley Waterloo
?CHRISTMAS 200,000 B.C.
?What Fangs did when he came in was to propose a matrimonial alliance.
That is, he grasped his daughter by the arm and led her up to Wolf,
and then pointing to an abandoned cave in the hillside not far
distant, pushed them toward it. They did not have marriage ceremonies
200,000 B.C. Wolf, who had evidently been informed of Fangs's desire
and who was himself in favor of the alliance, seized the girl and
began dragging her off to the new home and the honeymoon. She
resisted, and shrieked, and clawed like a wild-cat. Her mother, She
Fox, came running out, club in hand, but was promptly knocked down by
Fangs, who then dragged her into the cave again. Meanwhile the
bridegroom was hauling the bride away through furze and bushes at a
Further below are some examples from the 1920s. But before you read
them, you may wish to read this paper from the GeorgeTown University
by Constance Areson Clark where the ??gender implications of the term
?cave man? ?are discussed. It places these in historical context. The
most relevant paragraphs appear halfway down in the essay.
The Seductive Cave Man, the Modern Babylon and the Scopes Trial
Available in Google cache only
?Where the caveman used a club, the up-to-date husband takes out a halbeas corpus.?
Atlanta Constitution - NewspaperArchive - Feb 7, 1915
?Not all the CAVEMEN wear bearskins, carry clubs and growl.?
Indianapolis Star, Sunday, December 18, 1921
Mar 16, 1922
By Helen Rowland
?O Caveman, in thine hours of ease
Insensate, dull, and hard to please
When spring thine heart began to stir.
Didst thou, too, dream of some fair "Her."
And, with an amatory grunt.
Steal softly forth upon the hunt.
To grasp the "Cutie" by the hair.
And drag her gently to thy lair??
?DRAGGED BY HAIR, WIFE SAYS IN DIVORCE SUIT
Accusing her husband of having used caveman tactics to the extent that
her health is impaired, Mrs. Minnie M. Frasier filed suit yesterday in
the District Supreme court for a limited divorce from Young L.
Jan 9, 1924
Finally, there is this paper (paragraphs 49 and 50) which discuss the
caveman cartoons of the 30s to 60s.
?During this time period, the image of a Neanderthal man, wearing fur
over one shoulder, carrying a club and dragging a woman by her hair?an
act that strongly implies an ensuing rape?was a common sight in
cartoons and comic strips. Other examples of cavemen were less openly
misogynistic. B.C. was created in 1958 by Johnny Hart, while Rocky
Stoneaxe (known as Peter Piltdown in the 30s and 40s) appeared in the
back of Boy?s Life throughout the decade (Markstein). Of course, the
most popular caveman of the time was V.T. Hamlin?s Alley Oop, whose
strip began in 1933?
I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.