A great number of Lower Palaeolithic sites in Italy yielded lithic industries associated with elephant remains. This recurrent association can give an im- pression of homogeneity, but in fact the situation is much more complex. This association must rath- er be seen as a prism to understand the cultural and behavior variability. We investigate this topic through the evidence of two early Middle Pleisto- cene Italian sites, Cimitero di Atella and Ficoncella, and we try to insert results obtained previously in the framework of the Middle Pleistocene in Italy.