La Donna di Ostuni
La Donna di Ostuni features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Ostuni. Give it roughly ~60 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type museum
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Ostuni Ostuni guide
About La Donna di Ostuni
The extraordinary Palaeolithic burial of a pregnant woman dating from about 28,000 years ago, one of the most remarkable prehistoric finds in Italy, displayed in the Museo Civico di Ostuni.
The Donna di Ostuni, the Woman of Ostuni, is one of the most important Palaeolithic archaeological finds in Italy, and one of the most moving. In 1991, excavations in a cave near Ostuni uncovered the skeleton of a young woman who had been buried approximately 28,000 years ago, in the Upper Palaeolithic period. What made the discovery extraordinary was the evidence that she was in the final stages of pregnancy when she died: foetal bones were found within her pelvic cavity. The burial was a formal one, the body had been carefully arranged, with evidence of ochre decoration. The Donna di Ostuni is now displayed in the Museo Civico of Ostuni, where a reconstructed burial shows her skeleton in the original position, alongside detailed explanations of what the discovery tells us about Palaeolithic life and funerary practices in this region.
Did you know? The Donna di Ostuni is one of only a handful of Palaeolithic burials worldwide in which the pregnancy of the deceased has been definitively identified, making her burial unique not just in Italy but in the entire global archaeological record of prehistoric humanity.
How long is a visit to La Donna di Ostuni?
Set aside roughly ~60 min for La Donna di Ostuni. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is La Donna di Ostuni worth your time?
La Donna di Ostuni is among the 12 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Ostuni, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Ostuni
Hear the story of La Donna di Ostuni
Preview the Ostuni tour free in the Gingerguide app.