Museo Civico di Paleontologia e Paletnolgia

The Civic Museum of Paleontology and Palaeoethnology in Maglie, was established in 1960 by the Speleological Group of Salento, a non-profit organization formed in 1955 and recognized by an Interministerial Decree amongst the Minor Museums not belonging to the State in 1965. Strongly supported by the Italian Institute of Human Paleontology, by Gian Carlo Alberto and Alberto Blanc, the Museum was, actually, the natural outcome of a long research in the area, led by some local enthusiasts and italian specialists people, including the two aforementioned Blanc, Antonio Lazzari, Paolo Graziosi, Antonio Mario Radmilli, Giuliano Cremonesi and Decio de Lorentiis, the latter directed it until 1994.

The current exhibition is organized into 4 sections, Geology and Paleontology, Paleolithic and Prehistoric Art, Neolithic, Age of Metals and Ethnography. From the first evidence of life in Salento, dating back to the late Cretaceous, the reconstructive issues of territory and human groups that settled there, come up to the beginning of the Iron Age, following an exhibition space along more than 65 million years. The contents of the museum exhibition offer multiple opportunities to deepen topics on different scientific disciplines that reconstruct the history through thematic tours. Each visit, in fact, can be customized on specific needs of individual groups. Of these, 9 are now traditionally proposed by the Laboratory for Educational Research Museum in groups of no more than 30-40 people and relate to particular aspects of geological and palaeontological of the territory, the Man in relation to climate and different environments of the Paleolithic, the Neolithic civilization, the tribal cults of the first agricultural societies, companies and proto- proto-urban settlement systems. Other themes are included in the package of educational offer to the school world, such as The Magical World of the Deer Cave, Arts & Crafts in the Prehistory, Forms and times of the first agriculture, Power of fire and so on.