The Neanderthals' vocal apparatus is incapable of the range of vocalizations that the Cro-Magnons' is and members of the Clan cannot understand, far less pronounce, the girl's name: the closest they get to it (and the name by which she is subsequently known) is ' Ayla'. Various aspects of the differences between the Clan and The Others are brought out in the story. When she regains consciousness, the girl is shocked to find that her rescuers are physically quite different from people with whom she is familiar: they are Neanderthal whilst she is of the Cro-Magnon people (known to her rescuers as The Others). Iza uses her wide knowledge of healing herbs and procedures in order to nurse the little girl back to life. Alerted by vultures circling above the unconscious child, the medicine woman of the group, Iza, asks permission from Brun, the head of the Clan, to rescue the waif. The narrative switches to a group of people-the Clan-who have also been made homeless by the destruction of their cave in the earthquake and are trekking in search of a new home.

She wanders aimlessly, naked and unable to feed herself, for several days until, having been attacked and nearly killed by a cave lion and suffering from starvation, exhaustion, and infection of her wounds, she collapses, on the verge of death. The story begins with a 5-year old girl who is suddenly orphaned and left homeless by an earthquake that destroys her family's camp. ―Reverse cover, The Clan of the Cave Bear Story Through Jean Auel's magnificent storytelling, we are taken back to the dawn of mankind and swept up in the wonderful world of a very special heroine, Ayla.' A moving saga about people, relationships and the boundaries of love. ' Here is a novel of awesome beauty and power.

Clan of the cave bear author