International Journal of Osteoarchaeology Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 10: 357–367 (2000) The Archaeozoology of Lazaret Cave (Nice, France) PATRICIA VALENSI* Laboratoire De ´ partemental de Pre ´ histoire du Lazaret, 33 bis Boulevard Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice, France ABSTRACT Lazaret Cave has yielded a large mammal bone assemblage, dated to the Upper Middle Pleistocene (isotope stage six), and associated with an abundant lithic material transitionary between the Acheulian and Mousterian, as well as a few human remains. A taphonomic and archaeozoologic study was carried out in order to assess the quantity of bone material introduced by humans, and to determine the subsistence methods and the patterns of carcass exploitation. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key words: Lazaret Cave; faunal analysis; Upper Middle Pleistocene; Mousterian Introduction Lazaret Cave is located on the French Mediter- ranean coast, in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), on the western slope of Mount Boron (Figure 1(A)). It is a vast cavity of some 40 m long and 15 m wide, with a ceiling height of 15 m. The archae- ological sequence (stratigraphic complex C) is about 5 m thick, and is constituted by a succes- sion of gravel with blocks in a red clayey silt matrix (de Lumley & Tavoso, 1969; de Lumley, 1976). Excavations conducted by Octobon be- tween 1950 and 1965, and by de Lumley since 1967, have yielded ten hominid remains as- signed to pre-Neanderthals (de Lumley, 1973), associated with abundant lithic artifacts and faunal remains. This stratigraphic complex C is divided into three units: CI; CII; CIII (Figure 1(B)). Units CI and CII contain an Acheulian lithic assemblage rich in bifaces. Above this deposit, unit CIII is attributed to a Mousterian of Acheulian tradition, with many flake tools without bifaces (de Lumley, 1976; Darlas, 1994). The combined U-Th/ESR dating applied to red deer enamel indicates an age between 170000  20000 years (CII unit) and 130000  15000 years (CIII unit), correspond- ing to isotope stage six (Michel, 1996) (Figure 1(B)). The large mammal association, composed of 22 species, is characteristic of the Upper Middle Pleistocene (Valensi, 1994). An attempt to reconstruct Lazaret Cave’s palaeoenviron- ment, based on a study of the large mammals and rodents, shows the existence of a mosaic environment in a cold and humid continental climate (Valensi & Abbassi, 1998). The material presented here is derived from systematic excavations conducted in the eastern part of the site, corresponding to deposits from unit CIII, and the top of unit CII. In these homogeneous deposits, the recognition of ar- chaeological units was based on the evidence of little sterile levels within the occupation se- quence (Canals i Salomo, 1993). Five archaeo- stratigraphic units (A, B, C, D, E) were revealed, which can be subdivided into 17 thinner archae- ological levels, corresponding to minimal units where the time/space continuum is the closest possible (Figure 1(B)). Preservation Bone preservation has been studied using a dual taphonomic approach (Valensi & Michel, 1996). * Correspondence to: Laboratoire de ´partemental de pre ´histoire du Lazaret, 33 bis Boulevard Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice, France. e-mail: valensi@cleo.unice.fr Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 1 May 1999 Accepted 10 November 1999