ISSN 0253-6730 1, 4 Universitá di Messina, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, 98166 S. Agata, Italy. E-mail : amarra@unime.it ; lboniglio@unime.it 2 University of Colorado Museum, Geology Section, UCB 265, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0265, U.S.A. E-mail : villap @buffmail.colorado.edu 3 Institut de Préhistoire et Géologie du Quaternaire, Université Bordeaux 1, 33405 Talence, France. E-mail : c.beauval@ipgq.u-bordeaux1.frr 5 Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, Massachussetts 02215, U.S.A. E- mail : paulberg@bu.edu Revue de Paléobiologie, Genève (décembre 2004) 23 (2) : 787-801 Same predator, variable prey : taphonomy of two Upper Pleistocene hyena dens in Sicily and SW France Antonella Cinzia MARRA 1 , Paola VILLA 2 , Cédric BEAUVAL 3 , Laura BONFIGLIO 4 & Paul GOLDBERG 5 Abstract We present the taphonomic analysis of two faunal assemblages accumulated by the same predator in different paleoecological contexts, from the S. Teodoro Cave in northeastern Sicily and the cave of Bois Roche in the Charente region of southwestern France. Both caves have been used as dens by hyena populations. At Bois Roche the prey assemblage is dominated by large herbivores (mainly bovids and equids) with a smaller representation of medium-sized animals (cervids). At S. Teodoro the situation is reversed, the main prey animals being Cervus elaphus siciliae and the small horse Equus hydruntinus. The different faunal composition may be attributed to the environmental and geographical conditions. While all of the Bois Roche fauna is widely distributed in continental Western Europe, the macromammal assemblage of S. Teodoro belongs to an insular faunal complex which is composed of non-endemic taxa (Equus hydruntinus, Sus scrofa, Canis cf. lupus, Vulpes vulpes, Crocuta crocuta spelaea) associated with some endemic taxa of reduced size (Elephas mnaidriensis, Cervus elaphus siciliae, Bos primigenius siciliae). At San Teodoro there is no evidence for human habitation in the examined stratigraphic unit (unit B) yet this is a very large cave with a high ceiling. In contrast the cave of Bois Roche is small and has a very low ceiling. Curiously humans were present in the vicinity of the Bois Roche cave but they are completely absent from San Teodoro, although the possibility of human presence in the island would seem to be suggested by the occurrence of non-endemic faunas derived from the Italian continent. Our analysis is directed to reveal similarities and differences in major patterns of bone modiication and fragmentation, in differential preservation of anatomical elements and in the denning behavior of the spotted hyena. Strong similarities between the two sites are evident in the proportional representation of hyenas and other carnivores, in kinds of damage to the bone surfaces and in the presence of coprolites. Aside from differences in the assemblage compostion due to different environments, other differences appear to be due to patterns of preservation and postdepositional processes and to the kind of occupation by hyenas. Key words Hyena dens, Taphonomy, Upper Pleistocene, Sicily, SW France. SAN TEODORO The site The San Teodoro cave opens in a Mesozoic carbonatic massif located in North-Eastern Sicily (Italy), near the town of Acquedolci in the province of Messina. The cave is about 60 m long, 20 m wide and up to 20 m high ; the total surface is more than 1,000 square meters. The entrance (4 m high and 15 m wide) is small if compared to the large size of the cave. The site is known since the second half of the 19th century for its important contribution to the knowledge of Upper Palaeolithic culture in Sicily. It has provided the skulls and exceptionally well-preserved and articulated skeletons of seven humans ; these are the oldest, and so far unique, Palaeolithic burials recorded in Sicily. ANCA (1860) was the first to excavate the San Teodoro deposits. More than ifty years later V AUFREY (1928, 1929) opened some test pits but the human burials were discovered only later by BONAFEDE (TRICOMI, 1938). During the subsequent excavations, MAVIGLIA (1941, 1942) and GRAZIOSI & MAVIGLIA (GRAZIOSI, 1943, 1947 ; Actes du XIV e Congrès UISPP « Hommes & Carnivores au Paléolithique », Liège 2001, BRUGAL, J.P. & P. FOSSE (Eds).