The Last Neanderthal Clan takes readers back to the late Pleistocene Era when cave-dwelling clans compete for Survival. Around 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthal species is thought to have gone extinct. Neanderthals roamed Europe and Asia for centuries and lived in small family groups called clans. Demographic reasons, such as tiny population size, inbreeding and random events are some of the potential causes in their demise—although the cause of their extinction remains seriously debated.
The author's comprehensive knowledge and interest in prehistoric civilization will take the readers on a journey to the cold and harsh environment during the Pleistocene epoch to witness the final struggle for survival of “The Last Neanderthal Clan.” The robust Neanderthals ruled the terrain of northern Europe for millennia, hunting, gathering and reproducing. Upon the entry of the Cro-Magnon tribes into a world previously dominated by Neanderthals, the Neanderthals were confronted with a new and more formidable foe that would threaten their very survival. In the historical fiction, “The Last Neanderthal Clan,” their struggle is told in a dramatic manner. After a lengthy period of severe cold tens of thousands of years ago, the planet began to warm and glaciers began to melt. Clans were then able to go to previously undiscovered areas, since glaciers retreated, rivers became inundated and mountain valleys were cleared of ice. In their exploration, these two species – Cro-Magnon, also known as northern clans, and Neanderthal, also known as southern clans – come face to face. The Nord Clan, a Cro-Magnon clan, is the most powerful of them all, with a long history of hunting, killing and enslaving Neanderthal peoples. After Carni, the chief of the Nord Clan, impregnates a Neanderthal woman and leaves the mother and child with her Neanderthal Clan, he takes his clan on a hunt for Neanderthals in the warmer southern areas in order to capture slaves. Raka, a Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon offspring, is later tasked with leading what remains of his clan on a search for new hunting grounds and protection from the northern clans. To secure their existence, they must battle not only the dangers of Cro-Magnon clans, but also the cave bear, dire wolf, the cave lion and the harsh environment.