widespread impact than any of Ayla's other inventions, because at the end of the series she becomes a shamaness and helps propagate this knowledge - drastically altering the social development of the Cro Magnons, who until then did not live in monogamous couples in the series. Brassiere: Ayla is the only Clan woman permitted to hunt (small game only, using a sling). As she matures, she finds that her breasts impede her mobility. "She noticed that men wore a leather loincloth to protect their exposed and delicate organs, and fashioned a band to hold her bosom in place, tied around her back." (The Clan of the Cave Bear, chapter 26.) Atlatl: Works with her partner Jondalar to develop a "spear-thrower." Taming animals: out of loneliness in her valley, Ayla has raised a horse Whinney, her foal Racer, a Cave Lion cub she calls Baby, later with the mammoth hunters she gets a wolf she simply calls Wolf. Horse Equipment: Inspired by the idea that she can ride Whinney, Ayla invents drag poles, carrying packs, and notably the travois. Jondalar invents the bridle when he can't master riding without one, as Ayla does. Percussion Fire Starting: After a mistake in making flint weapons, Ayla recognizes that sparks from striking a 'firestone' of iron pyrite with a piece of flint can start a fire. Sewing Needle: Ayla tried and failed to learn the Mamutoi sewing techniques, and instead came up with a sharp bone with a hole, which she calls a "thread-puller," to draw sinew through leather—instead of just punching holes and pushing the thread in with another tool. Surgical Stitches: When Ayla first encounters Jondalar his leg has been torn open by a cave lion, to the point where the muscle is hanging off the bone. Ayla determines that in order to heal properly, his leg would have to be physically held closed. She notices how his clothing (in the typical style of his people, but unfamiliar to her) is formed of panels of cloth tied together with thongs, and has the idea to literally tie his leg back together by boring holes in his flesh and muscle, then threading cord through the holes and tying them off. Much later (in The Shelters of Stone) Wolf is mauled almost to death by another wild wolf; Ayla uses her "thread puller" sewing needle to stitch his wounds. Needless to say, both patients