<P> The novel references the advance of the polar ice sheets , setting the story before 18,000 years Before Present ( BP ) , when the farthest southern encroachment of the last glacial period of the current ice age occurred . Auel 's time - frame , somewhere between 28,000 and 25,000 years BP , corresponds generally with archaeological estimates of the Neanderthal branch of mankind disappearing . </P>
<P> The novel references the advance of the polar ice sheets , setting the story before 18,000 years Before Present ( BP ) , when the farthest southern encroachment of the last glacial period of the current ice age occurred . Auel 's time - frame , somewhere between 28,000 and 25,000 years BP , corresponds generally with archaeological estimates of the Neanderthal branch of mankind disappearing . </P>
when is clan of the cave bear set
when is clan of the cave bear set
before 18,000 years Before Present somewhere between 28,000 and 25,000 years BP
before 18,000 years Before Present somewhere between 28,000 and 25,000 years BP