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The
origins of the Molise region emerged from the depths of the sea. The
oldest evidence of life forms that have been found come from the Matese
area. These are banks of rudistids, lamellibranchiates that
proliferated in the waters of a sea during the Cretaceous period (Mesozoic
era), about one hundred million years ago. One of the places in which
these fossils, conical in shape, have been found is the countryside
around San Polo Matese which preserves the largest beds of
them. Between Monte Lacosta, Colle Moratti and Monte
San Polo, the fossils emerge from the almost intact or reveal parts
of the shell. Identical scenario at the gorges of the Quirino, at Guardiaregia.
The
rudistids became extinct about fifty million years ago. When the sea
receded, other fossils were left to recount to future generations what
happened in the Molise before man’s presence: the nummulites of
the Matese, the shells from the lake of Occhito, the plant
forms in the countryside around Campobasso and many other
boroughs in the region.
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