BBC Big Read 2021 discussion

Here were find the Clan has found a new cave to call their home, potentially. Choosing a cave is not a simple matter. It's a big decision steeped in both practical considerations, spirituality, and tradition. It's not just a cave, but a location. From this point, their lives will emanate: all their hunts, gatherings, firewood collections, battles, and so on. Probably, it is the most critical decision of all.

We are used to having shelters around us. How much more important for these people. When you think about it, a cave is so much better than a house. There's an impregnable rock wall behind and around you. The security is unmatched. Sometimes there is a secret escape tunnel in the back. It's easy to see out, but not easy to see in. It's warm in winter, and cool in summer. Often there is a built-in water supply. Large cave patterns can be learned, but are impossible for invaders to understand. The downside? The are really limited in number!

I highlighted another statement, which relates back to my chapter 2 comments. "The small clan of hunter-gatherers lived off the land, and this land held an over-whelming abundance." This is another reason the cave location was so critical.

Here the clan struggles with acceptance of Ayla. Both inclusion and xenophobia are powerful forces. You should keep Others away, as they could be spies, saboteurs, or parasites. But you should also welcome Others, as they bring genetic diversity essential for life, new trade, new skills, and new knowledge. Other than the cave, this is probably one of the greatest decision the leaders face. We see they made the right decision, for without Ayla they never would have found the "perfect' cave and home.

The clan finds a suitable cave! Guess who found it? The weird, tall ugly girl with light eyes and skin (mostly hairless) and a very small head: Ayla! -go girl!
A lot happens in this chapter but some of the most thought provoking passages describe the inner dialogue of Creb the magician, as he wrestles with the implications of giving a female a cave lion totem which is traditionally only given to males. At this point, Creb understands that there is something fundamentally different and powerful about Ayla.
Previous chapters highlighted both the physical and mental differences between "Clan" and "Other". The others have highly developed verbal communication while the clan uses a more nuanced communication style which depends on hand signals, body language and emotional intelligence. The clan people are slow to change. The accumulated knowledge of their people, or memory, stored in the large occipital lobes of their brains is constrained by the skull volume which the females can safely give birth to. Perhaps the information storage medium is inherently less efficient? Perhaps their brains attempted to hold onto too many details and could not eject less important data the way ours do? Fascinating questions!