Gravity data cannot usually be inverted to yield unique structures from incomplete data; however, there is a smallest density compatible with the data or, if the density is known, a deepest depth of burial. A general theory is derived which gives the greatest lower bound on density or the least upper bound on depth. These bounds are discovered by consideration of a class of “ideal” bodies which achieve the extreme values of depth or density. The theory is illustrated with several examples which are solved by analytic methods. New maximum depth rules derived by this theory are, unlike some earlier rules of this type, optimal for the data they treat.