Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson

Shaman: A Novel of the Ice Age by Kim Stanley Robinson --- 456 pages

The critically acclaimed and best selling author of science fiction speculating on the future of the human species has now published an equally distinguished and imaginative meditation on humanity's past. Shaman is a story of how our early human ancestors in the Aurignacian Period circa 30,000 BCE might have experienced life. Robinson has carefully crafted his story within the boundaries of scientific knowledge based on archeological and other evidence. Yet his characters speak to us, recognizably and fully human, sharing the same instincts and emotions that still continue to drive human existence across the millenia. 

Robinson says he has long wanted to write about prehistoric humans, but needed a way in to the story he wanted to tell. He found the way when he began to read about the Paleolithic cave paintings of southern France and Spain, some of the earliest known human art. He also drew on his own experiences hiking and climbing in rugged and inhospitable terrain to understand the challenges of survival faced by Loon, Thorn, Heather, Elga and their clan. Listen to Kim Stanley Robinson talking about Shaman. Or check out his web site at www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/

The book references the amazing paintings of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc, discovered in the Ardèche, France on December 18,1994. You can learn more about this site at the Wikipedia article on the Chauvet Cave. The distinguished German filmmaker Werner Herzog made a documentary in 2010 about the Chauvet Cave paintings that is available through Amazon and Google Play. Watch a trailer for the film, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.