Les sépultures paléolithiques de la grotte de Sainte Marie d’Agnano à Ostuni (Italie)

At the end of October 1991, Dott. D. Coppola discovered a paleolithic burial containing the skeleton of a young woman (Ostuni 1) that at the time of death was pregnant. Some preliminay anthropological observations, made during escavation, are reported.

The skeleton is nearly complete, the conditions of preservation are good, apart from the many fractures due to the deposit pressure, it will be possible to reconstruct most of the skeleton.

The remains are robust and exibit well evident muscular attachments. Considering the status of the epiphyseal lines closure and the tipology of the facies symphysialis of the pubis the skeleton pertain to a young adult of approximately 20 years.

The first estimate obtained from the femura indicate a stature over the mean of the female italian Upper Paleolithic samples.

The fetal bones are well preserved, practically all the skeletal districts are present. The fetal cranial remains occupy the maternal small pelvis while the body and the legs lie in the great pelvis.

The status of the fetal bones indicates a high stage of pregnancy.