After she fights and defeats the young 'alpha male', who earlier had raped her thus giving her a child. She does, but finally realizes her 'spirit' is different, and leaves to look for her own kind. But when Ayla does to defend a tribesman, she is only exiled in the winter and, if she survives, allowed to come back. A woman who even touches a hunting weapon is sentenced to die. This causes difficulties for her, because the women are totally subserviant, and one of them showing smarts or initiative is punished. The Neanderthals are portrayed as if they had perhaps an IQ of 80, while Ayla certainly has an IQ of 120 to 140. As she grows up we see that she is innately smarter than her adopted family, learns things quickly, begins to innovate. Against the wishes of the leader, she is taken in and nursed back to health by the medicine woman. Ayla (Daryl Hannah), a very blonde Cro-Magnon, was orphaned as a small girl, wounded, and found by the dark-haired Cave Bear Clan of Neanderthals. The setting in time is prehistoric, during the brief overlap of the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon humans. There isn't much sound in this film, but the images, all shot in British Columbia, come through really well. We are seeing more and more older films released on DVD for a pittance, like this one, 'Clan of the Cave Bear', which I purchased for under $6US. The popularity of DVD has exploded the past couple of years like no new entertainment technology before.

Clan of the cave bear books in order