atavistic vs very old

atavistic

adj
  • Relating to earlier, more primitive behavior that returns after an absence. 

  • Of a throwback or exhibiting primitivism. 

  • Of the recurrence of a trait reappearing after an absence of one or more generations due to a chance recombination of genes. 

very old

How often have the words atavistic and very old occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )