Thirty thousad years ago, an earth quake
leaves Ayla, a child of five, alone in the world. Famished and solitary, she wanders.
After surviving an attack by a cave lion, she at last faints. Upon awakening, she realizes she had been collected by people, but not of her own; She had been taken by a clan of Neanderthals, the Clan of the Cave Bear.Ayla is adopted by the clan's high priest, and his sister, the healer, both of whom rank high on the social ladder. She
learns to speak the clan's sign language and becomes familiar with its practices, although not without difficulty. Hardships arise since Bround ,the leader's son, despises of her. The clan members are apprehensive about accepting her, especially when she does not submit to the clan's conventions; Ayla learns how to hunt, despite the death sentence to any woman who does. Ayla finds none of the men in the clan while mary her, but when she raped by Broud, she is impregnated. Eleven years old Ayla almost dies at birth. Her child, the mixture of Cro-Magnon, anciet ancestors of ours, and Neandethal, is to be left for dead, but she fights for his life. Ultimately, Ayla is banished from the clan. She
leaves her son with the clan and goes on a quest to find her kind. The book end here, and starts the next book, The Valley of the Horses.