DO I remember correctly that Ayla had some sort of prophetic dream at some stage about a child of hers from Jondalar having a confrontation with her half clan child? Or was that just an analogy of ‘Others’ vs ‘Clan’?
That seems to be a pretty good summary of the series, if you ask me. 
Ok, ok… I read (actually, skimmed, after The Clan of the Cave Bear) the books upto The Plains of Passage, but then found other, much better books to read. I wanted to know what was happening, and hence I skimmed the descriptions and long-drawn out introductions (I am Ayla, born to the Mammoth Hearth, First Among Spear-Thrower Makers, Grand Poobah of the Flint-And-Stone Users’ Prehistoric Society &c &c, ad infinitum…) and even (gasp!) the sex. I just wanted a broad idea of the story arc. Frankly, it was hot when I was 15 and first came across* the books, but rapidly became yawn-inducing.
Anyhow. Read them, sort of tolerated them; certainly won’t be reading any more.
*Get your minds out of the gutter, you filthy perverts!
I think it was the long wait between books. It’s like Auel phoned it in. It wasn’t that the writing was horrible, but a lot of stuff fans had waited for (Ayla meeting Zelandoni, Ayla meeting Jondalar’s ex, Ayla meeting the incredibly biased tribe) fizzled. There was no cat fight with Jondalar’s ex, just a silly prank that Ayla (of course) turned to her advantage, and repetition repetition repetition. It’s like the journey was the story, but now that they were home, kind of blah.
Well, of course she did! She invented lactation consultants and the Department of Children and Family Services. She might even have stirred up enough interest to start the world’s first AA chapter, and Al-Anon, as well. 
But much as I like to tease, I do think people are misunderestimating how much of the inventing was Ayla’s. The spear thrower (atlatl) was definitely Jondalar’s notion, after watching her with the sling, as was the two-part spear. The sewing needle was the most group effort - they took turns cutting and filing down a very small section of bone, Wymez made a special blade for Ranec to make a bone drill and one of the women - Tulie, I think? “The best bead-maker”, whoever it was - drilled the hole in the end of the sharpened bone. It was Ayla’s inspiration, but it couldn’t have been done without communication and cooperation, which I think was the whole point of that story. Soap came from some other woman in another tribe, who taught Ayla how to make it. White leather came from Crozie, who taught Ayla how to make it.
Ayla “invented” Firemaking Made Easy, animal domestication and surgical stitches, all in Valley. That’s really about it. Oh, and bras and braids, but trust me that any woman left alone with boobs and long hair will come up with a way to restrain both, sooner or later.
Well, it’s a start.