The Clan of the Cave Bear

A group of 20 Neanderthals, also called members of the “Clan,” travel across the steppes after losing six of their number and their cave in the earthquake. Led by Brun, they search for a new home. As they follow a river, they see the carrion birds circling. The men at first assume it marks a dead animal, but Iza, the clan’s pregnant medicine woman and Brun’s sister, finds the injured girl. Iza insists on helping her, and Brun reluctantly allows it.

As they move onward, the clan women forage for roots, greens, grubs, and firewood. Creb, the clan’s disabled Mog-ur, or holy man, as well as Iza and Brun’s brother, examines the child and gives his approval for Iza to care for her. He reassures Brun that helping the girl will not anger the spirits, but rather may be their will. Iza begins preparing herbal remedies to clean the wound and soothe the child.

That night, Brun leads the clan to camp near a waterfall at the base of cliffs where caves may be found. While the women prepare food, Creb conducts an important ritual with the men, calling upon their totem spirits to guide them to a new home and protect them. The men drink a datura-based ceremonial brew, pound their spears in rhythm, and fall into a trance as Creb unites their racial memories, letting them relive the origins of life and the clan’s connection to animals and totems. When the ritual ends, Creb settles to rest, while Iza sleeps protectively beside the wounded child.

The girl, delirious, cries out for her mother during the night. Iza comforts her, tending to her until the fever breaks. When the girl wakes, she’s frightened by Iza, but gradually calms down. Iza feeds her broth and redresses her wounds.

Creb soon approaches and observes the girl with interest. Unlike Clan children, who usually fear him, she looks at him openly, even reaching out to touch his scarred face. Touched by her innocent gesture, Creb introduces himself, prompting the girl to respond with her own name. Unable to pronounce it clearly, he settles on “Ayla,” a name both he and Iza can use.

Days pass, and Ayla grows stronger. The Clan continues its journey, moving from the flat steppes into forested foothills. As the terrain grows difficult, Brun and the hunters debate whether to continue into the unfamiliar hills or return to the open plains where game is more plentiful.

During a pause, Ayla wanders ahead, and Iza follows after her only to realize that the girl has found a cave. When the men finish their meeting, Iza tells them what they discovered.

Brun and his men investigate the cave and find it’s the perfect new home for the Clan. It faces south for sunlight, is sheltered from winds, has fresh water, and is near both the forest and open steppes. Inside, the main chamber has plenty of space for all of them. A smaller side chamber contains a great heap of bones, including the skull of a cave bear. Creb recognizes it as the dwelling place of Ursus, the most sacred spirit of the Clan.

As the men emerge, Brun is elated. He decides the spirits must have guided them there, perhaps even causing the earthquake that forced them from their old home. He tells the others that their journey is over, and they rejoice. Iza, knowing that it was Ayla’s wandering that led them to it, begins to believe that the girl is lucky.

Later, Brun confides in Creb his uncertainty about Ayla, since she isn’t of the Clan and has no known totem. Creb reassures him, arguing that Ayla must have a strong totem, pointing to her survival of the cave lion attack and her role in finding the cave. He proposes including Ayla in the upcoming totem ceremony alongside the infants who have not yet received theirs. Brun agrees on the condition that Creb take responsibility for Iza, her unborn child, and Ayla at his own hearth. Creb accepts.

That evening, Creb begins his meditations to discover the children’s totems. He determines one infant’s totem to be the boar, the other’s to be the owl. When he turns his mind to Ayla, he realizes that her totem is the cave lion. Though unusual for a female to have such a strong totem, Creb accepts that the cave lion chose Ayla and marked her.

The Clan prepares for the upcoming cave ceremony. When Creb returns from his meditations, he quietly tells Iza that he will provide for her, Ayla, and her unborn child by sharing his hearth with them in the new cave. Iza is shocked but grateful, realizing this arrangement solves many of her worries about her future. She hopes that her unborn child will be a girl so she can remain with Creb and continue the line of medicine women.

The next morning, Iza begins preparations for Ayla’s acceptance by crafting her an amulet. She collects plants like pigweed, horsetail, and soaproot, then takes Ayla to the stream to bathe her. Using the plants, Iza carefully cleanses both herself and the child. She fashions the small leather pouch for Ayla’s amulet and gathers sacred red ochre. Though she worries about Ayla’s future, Iza begins to think of her as a daughter.

Meanwhile, Brun and the other men set out on the hunt that will decide if the new cave is truly acceptable to the clan’s spirits. They stalk a massive herd of bison, working together to separate a young bull from the others. Broud, Brun’s son, steps forward and makes his first kill. The men celebrate, and Broud tastes raw liver, signifying his transition to manhood. The hunters then bind the animal and begin the trek back to the cave, where the rest of the Clan is waiting.

Brun proudly acknowledges Broud’s successful kill to the rest of the Clan. The older men, Zoug and Dorv, also share their own small game catch from the morning. The hunters recount the chase. Broud basks in his new status as a man and hunter, as well as the pride of his mother, Ebra, and the admiration of Oga, who secretly hopes to become his mate one day.

Meanwhile, the women prepare for the coming ceremony by digging a roasting pit for the bison meat, which is cooked alongside an elaborate feast of birds, small animals, roots, greens, breads, fruits, and herbs. Ayla finally meets the other children and bonds with Oga as they work together to gather wood. By evening, the Clan feasts.

As darkness falls, the ceremony begins. The clan gathers in their ordered places while a fire is lit with an ember carried from their old cave. The hunt is reenacted in a dance, led by Broud. Before the Clan, Creb carves the sign of the woolly rhinoceros into Broud’s chest, marking his passage into manhood.

The ceremony continues as the infants Borg and Ona receive their totems: boar and owl. Then, to the clan’s surprise, Ayla is formally named and adopted. While Iza holds her as a mother would, Creb declares her name aloud and marks her with the totem of the cave lion, confirming the scars on her leg as a sign. The revelation shocks the clan, as such a powerful totem is unprecedented for a female. Brun is unsettled, but cannot deny the legitimacy of the sign. The men then retreat into the cave for their sacred rites, while the women conduct their own dance ritual, led by Iza.