Marolan-man who is the Eleventh's friend and mate

Zelandoni-of the Third Cave, Two Rivers Rock, older man

Zelandoni-of the Fourteenth Cave, Little Valley, middle-aged woman

Zelandoni-of the Second Cave, Elder Hearth, older sister of Kimeran, mother of Jondecam

Zelandoni-of the Seventh Cave, Horsehead Rock, white-haired grandfather of Zelandoni Second, and Kimeran

Zelandoni-of the Nineteenth Cave, white-haired older woman

Zelandoni-of the Fifth Cave, Old Valley, middle-aged man

Zelandoni-of the Twenty-ninth Cave, Three Rocks, and mediator between the three assistant zelandonia and three leaders of the three separate locations of the Twenty-ninth Cave

Assistant Zelandoni of the Twenty-ninth Cave, Zelandoni of Reflection Rock (South Holding), middle-aged man

Assistant Zelandoni of the Twenty-ninth Cave, Zelandoni of South Face (North Holding), young man

Assistant Zelandoni of the Twenty-ninth Cave, Zelandoni of Summer Camp (West Holding), middle-aged woman

First Acolyte of the Second Cave (almost Zelandoni), young woman

Jonokol-First Acolyte of the Ninth Cave, artist, young man

Mikolan-Second Acolyte of the Fourteenth Cave, very young man

Mejera-Acolyte of the Third Cave (formerly Fourteenth Cave), very young woman

Madroman-Acolyte of the Fifth Cave (formerly Ladroman of the Ninth Cave), young man

FIRST CAVE OF THE LANZADONII

(DALANAR'S CAVE)

Dalanar-Man of Jondalar's hearth, Marthona's former mate, founder of the Lanzadonii

Jerika-Dalanar's mate, co-founder of Lanzadonii

Ahnlay/d-Jerika's mother, died

Hochaman-Man of Jerika's hearth-Great Traveler

Joplaya-Jerika's daughter, daughter of Dalanar's hearth

Echozar-Joplaya's half-Clan mate

Andovan/d-Man who helped raise Echozar

Yoma/d-Echozar's mother, Clan woman

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am more grateful than I can say for the assistance of many people who have helped me to learn about the ancient world of the people who lived when glaciers advanced far south of today's margins and covered a quarter of the earth's surface. However, there are some details which I have chosen to use, particularly with regard to certain theories and the timing of certain sites and events, which may not be accepted by the majority of the professional community at this time. Some may be oversights but others were chosen deliberately, usually because it felt more accurate to this subjective novelist who must write about people with an understanding of human nature and logical motivation for their actions.

Most especially, I want to thank Dr. Jean-Philippe Rigaud, whom I met on my first research trip to Europe at his archeological excavation namedFlageolet in southwest France, once a hunting camp on a hillside that overlooked a broad grassy plain and the migrating Ice Age animals it supported. Though I was just an unknown American novelist, he took the time to explain some of the discoveries of that site, and he helped to arrange a visit to Lascaux Cave. I was brought to tears when I saw that sanctuary of prehistoric splendor painted by those early modern humans of Upper Paleolithic Europe, the Cro Magnons- work that can still stand against the finest of today.

Later, when we met again at La Micoque, a very early Neanderthal site, I began to get more of a sense of the unique time at the beginning of our prehistory when the first anatomically modern humans arrived in Europe and encountered the Neanderthals who had been living there since long before the last Ice Age. Because I wanted to understand the process that is used to learn about our ancient ancestors, my husband and I worked for a short time at Dr. Rigaud's more recent excavation,Grotte Seize . He also gave me many insights into the rich and expansive living site, which today is namedLaugerie Haute , but that I have called the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii.

Dr. Rigaud has been of help throughout the series, but I appreciate his assistance with this book in particular. Before I started writingThe Shelters of Stone , I took all the information I had gathered about the region and the way it was then and wrote the entire background setting in terms of the story, giving the sites my own names and describing the landscape so that when I needed the information it was easily available in my own words. I have asked many scientists and other specialists uncountable questions, but I never asked anyone to check my work before it was published. I have always taken full responsibility for the choices I made in selecting the details that were used in my books, for the way I decided to use them, and the imagination I added to them-and I still do. But because the setting for this novel is so well known, not only to archeologists and other professionals, but to the many people who have visited the region, I needed to be sure that my background details were as accurate as I could make them, so I did something I had never done before. I asked Dr. Rigaud, who knows the region and understands the archeology, to check over those many, many pages of background material for obvious errors. I didn't fully realize what a huge job I had asked of him, and I thank him profoundly for his time and efforts. He paid me the compliment of saying that the information was reasonably accurate, but he also told me some things I didn't know or hadn't understood, which I was able to correct and incorporate. Any mistakes remaining are entirely mine.

I am deeply grateful to another French archeologist, Dr. Jean Clottes, whom I met through his colleague, Dr. Rigaud. In Montignac, at the celebration for the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of Lascaux Cave, he was kind enough to translate for me in quiet tones the gist of some of the presentations given in French at the conference that was held in conjunction with the Lascaux event. Over the years since then we have met on both sides of the Atlantic, and I cannot thank him enough for his kindness and exceptional generosity with his time and assistance. He has guided me through many painted and engraved caves, especially in the region near the Pyrenees Mountains. Besides the fabulous caves on Count Begouen's property, I was particularly impressed with Gargas, which has so much more than the handprints for which it is so well known. I also appreciated more than I can say my second visit deep into Niaux Cave with him, which lasted about six hours and was a wonderful revelation partly because by then I had learned much more about the painted caves than I knew the first time. Though these places are not yet included in the story, the many discussions with him about concepts and ideas, especially regarding the reasons that the Cro Magnons may have had for decorating their caves and living sites, have been enlightening.

I made my first visit to the cave of Niaux in the foothills of the Pyrenees in 1982, for which I must thank Dr. Jean-Michel Belamy. I was indelibly impressed with Niaux, the animals painted on the walls of the Black Salon, the children's footprints, the beautifully painted horses deep inside the extensive cavern beyond the small lake, and much more. I was moved beyond words, for Dr. Belamy's more recent gift of the exceptional first edition of the first book about the cave of Niaux.

I feel gratitude beyond measure to Count Robert Begouen, who has protected and preserved the remarkable caves on his land, L'Enlene, Tuc d'Audoubert, and Trois Freres, and established a unique museum for the artifacts that have been so carefully excavated from them. I was overwhelmed with the two caves I saw, and am deeply grateful to him, and Dr. Clottes, for guiding my visits.

I also want to thank Dr. David Lewis-Williams, a gentle man with strong convictions, whose work with the Bushmen in Africa and the remarkable rock paintings of their ancestors has engendered profound and fascinating ideas and several books, one co-written with Dr. Clottes,The Shamans of Prehistory , which suggests that the ancient French cave painters may have had similar reasons for decorating the rock walls of their caves.