luck. Having dreamed of being a mother for most of her life and convinced that this may be her only chance due to her powerful totem, Ayla refuses Iza's suggestion that she take medicine to lose the child. Following a difficult pregnancy and a near-fatal labor, Ayla rejoices in the birth of a son but because he has a number of Cro-Magnon features, he is classified by the Clan as deformed and is almost taken away from her. The book ends with Creb's death, Broud's succession to the leadership and his banishment of Ayla, who sets off to find other people of her own kind. Her son Durc remains with the tribe. In the movie: Ayla was banished twice but on the second time, she left her son to be with the tribe. The first time she was banished was because she held a weapon. Second time was because she stood against Broud. But Broud's father has acknowledged that Ayla is stronger than his son. Iza died first and Creb didn't die in the movie. It appears that Broud's leadership was taken away from since he lost in the fight with Ayla and his father mentioned that Broud was fighting with a "spirit" and that he lost. Ayla reminded her son that she and Durc has the same spirit forever, setting up on a journey on her own. Leaving Durc to lead the clan in the future. Sequels The sequel, The Valley of Horses, continues Ayla's story, which is further developed in other books of the Earth's Children series, which include The Mammoth Hunters; The Plains of Passage; The Shelters of Stone; and the sixth and final installment in the series, The Land of Painted Caves. Background The archaeological and paleontological research for this book was carried out by Auel from her public library, by attending archaeological conventions, and touring extensively on sites with briefings by working field archaeologists. Some of the descriptions are based on the first adult Neanderthal skeletons found in Iraq from the cave burial at Shanidar, dating between 60-80,000 years BP. Other data is clearly linked to the widespread Aurignacian culture and Gravettian culture, and their tell-tale Venus figurines which Auel uses as one center of her Cro-Magnon religious practices. Film and television adaptations In 1986, the novel was adapted into a film directed by Michael Chapman and starring Daryl Hannah. In 2014, the Lifetime television