Jean Marie Auel (born February 18, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer. She is best known for her Earth's Children books, a series of historical fiction novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals. Her books have sold 34 million copies world-wide in many translations. February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or subject matter (content). ... A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, where the time the action takes place in predates the time of the first publication -- distinguish and contrast the genre of alternate history. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Earths Children is a series of historical fiction novels written by Jean M. Auel. ... A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, where the time the action takes place in predates the time of the first publication -- distinguish and contrast the genre of alternate history. ... Prehistory (Greek words προ = before and ιστορία = history) is the period of human history prior to the advent of writing (which marks the beginning of recorded history). ... European redirects here. ... The Cro-Magnons (IPA: or anglicised IPA: ) form the earliest known European examples of Homo sapiens, from ca. ... Binomial name Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864 The Neanderthal or Neandertal was a species of genus Homo (Homo neanderthalensis) that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia from about 230,000 to 29,000 years ago (in the Middle Palaeolithic, early Stone Age). ...

Auel was the second of five children of Neil Solomon Untinen, a housepainter, and Martha Wirtanen. On March 19, 1954, at the age of 18, Jean married Ray B. Auel. They had five children by the time she was 25: RaeAnn, Karen, Lenore, Kendall and Marshall. March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Auel attended Portland State University and the University of Portland. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Maine and Mt. Vernon College. She got her MBA in 1976 at the age of 40. She also worked as a clerk (1965-1966), a circuit board designer (1966-1973), technical writer (1973-1974), and a credit manager at Tektronix (1974-1976). Portland State University Portland State University (or PSU) is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon. ... It has been suggested that Purple Pride be merged into this article or section. ... The University of Maine, established in 1865, is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. ... Mount Vernon College for Women was an all-women institute for higher learning located in the Georgetown district of Washington, DC. The college was acquired by The George Washington University in 1999, and became their Mount Vernon campus. ... Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a tertiary degree in business management. ...

Jean began researching for The Clan of the Cave Bear in 1977. In addition to spending many hours in the library studying the Ice Age, she joined a survival class to learn how to construct an ice cave and how it feels to live in one. She learned primitive methods of making fire, tanning leather, and knapping stone from aboriginal skills expert Jim Riggs. Jean describes Riggs as "the kind of person you could put into one end of a wilderness naked, and he'd come out the other end fed, clothed, and sheltered." Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ...

The first book in the Earth's Children series was The Clan of the Cave Bear. Since then, she has written The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, The Plains of Passage, and The Shelters of Stone. Each of these titles was created as a sequel to the previous one; however, although the action follows on immediately from one book to the next, the publication has suffered gaps as long as ten years between volumes. The sixth book in the Earth's Children series is expected eventually. The Clan of the Cave Bear is a historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel. ... The Valley of Horses is a historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel. ... The Mammoth Hunters is a historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel. ... The Plains of Passage is an historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel published in 1990. ... The Shelters of Stone is a historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel. ...

After the financial success of her first book, she was able to afford trips to see the prehistoric sites she wrote about, and to meet, not just correspond with, the experts. Her research has taken her across the continent from France to Ukraine, including most of what Marija Gimbutas called Old Europe. She has developed a close friendship with Dr. Jean Clottes of France who was responsible for, among many other things, the exploration of the Cosquer Cave discovered in 1985 and the Chauvet Cave discovered in 1994. Marija Gimbutas by Kerbstone 52, at the back of Newgrange, Co. ... In January 2003 the term Old Europe surfaced after the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld used it to refer to European countries that did not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... A painted bison from the Cosquer cave The Cosquer cave is located in the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille, France, not very far from Cap Morgiou. ... The Chauvet Cave or Chauvet-Pont-dArc Cave is a cave located near Vallon-Pont-dArc, in the Ardèche département, in southern France. ...

Jean's books have been commended for their anthropological authenticity and their ethnobotanical accuracy. Reviewers have described as "a minor miracle" her work in describing a detailed Ice Age society including general interactions, trading, religious rituals, and relationships. Her books also remind us not to take things for granted, such as the bountiful but limited resources of the earth. Above all, they reinforce the fact that people living 20,000 years ago were as intelligent and creative, and as human, as any person alive today. Anthropology (from the Greek word , human or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ... Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between plants and people: Fromethno - study of people and botany - study of plants. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... Earth (IPA: , often referred to as the Earth, Terra, the World or Planet Earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth largest. ...

However, the series has been criticised for poor characterisation. The central character, Ayla, excels in the many endeavours she applies herself to (with the exception of singing), and has few discernible character flaws; several critics have described her as a canonical Mary Sue. Recent archaeological research has shown of the historical details in her books to be inaccurate. Some others are fictional, such as the domestication of horses, which really occurred much later. It should be noted, however, that such "archeological evidence" is itself subjective, with historical milestones (such as the domestication of horses) being attributed arbitrarily to moments in history determined by inconsistent means. Hypothetically, Ayla could have domesticated two horses out of necessity without starting a sweeping universal movement of equestrian domestication. Mary Sue (or simply Sue) is a pejorative expression for a fictional character who is an idealized stand-in for the author, or for a story with such a character. ...

Auel's books may have exaggerated the difference between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens sapiens. It has been proven that Neanderthals had a Hyoid bone. Thus, they were most likely capable of using a vocal language and were not dependent on sign language, but in Auel's books, they are portrayed as incapable of complex verbal expression (see Neanderthal's ability to speak). However, the existence of a hyoid bone in Neanderthals was only confirmed in 1983, some years after the first book in the series was published. Also, they would not look as different as Auel describes. They had a receding chin and not none as Auel describes, as a look at their remains and the reconstructed images confirms.^{[citation needed]} Binomial name †Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864 Synonyms Palaeoanthropus neanderthalensis The Neanderthal (IPA pronunciation: ), (Homo neanderthalensis) or Neandertal was a species of the Homo genus that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... The hyoid bone (Os Hyoideum; Lingual Bone) is a bone in the human neck, not articulated to any other bone; it is supported by the muscles of the neck and in turn supports the root of the tongue. ... Binomial name †Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864 Synonyms Palaeoanthropus neanderthalensis The Neanderthal (IPA pronunciation: ), (Homo neanderthalensis) or Neandertal was a species of the Homo genus that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia. ...

Auel lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband Ray and is now working on the sixth book of the Earth's Children series. At one point she shared a secretary with another anthropologically-inclined writer of speculative fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin. Nickname: City of Roses, Stumptown, Bridgetown, PDX Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: Country United States State Oregon County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Mayor Tom Potter Area    - City 376. ... Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (born October 21, 1929) is an American author. ...

External Links

• Real Audio interview with Jean M. Auel by Don Swaim