Do visit the Museum of Santa Maria delle Monache, Isernia, where they are still unearthing one of the most important prehistoric sites in the whole of Europe. In the Palazzo Orlando in Isernia is a huge model of a mammoth, symbol of over 700,000 years of prehistoric or Palaeolithic activity in the region.

The excavations and scientific work has been going on for more than 15 years and the many artefacts found reveal that some of the oldest inhabitants of Europe were from this part of the Appennines. The scientists have been able to discern that these 'Homo Erectus' lived in small family groups of 15-20 people.

Dominated by the male who would hunt, the females would gather vegetables and fruit. They were semi-nomadic and shared the land with bears, wild boars, rhinoceros and hippopotamus.