At a time in prehistory when Neanderthals shared the Earth with early Homo sapiens, a band of cave-dwellers adopt blond and blue-eyed Ayla, a child of the "Others". As Ayla matures into a young woman of spirit and courage (unlike other women of the clan), she must fight for survival against the jealous bigotry of Broud, who will one day be clan leader. Based on Jean M. Auel's popular book, there is minimal narration; subtitles translate the Neanderthal gestures and primitive spoken language. Natural changes have the clans moving. Iza, medicine woman of the "Clan of the Cave Bear" finds little Ayla from the "other"'s clan - tradition would have the clan kill Ayla immediately, but Iza insists on keeping her. When the little one finds a most needed new cave, she may stay - for now. As it turns out later, she's a bright child, but has a hard time to keep her place in a clan with different customs. She has to hide her intelligence because she's a woman.