Until 27 June it is possible to visit one of the largest deposits of prehistoric elephants skeletons in Europe.

The extraordinary remains were discovered by archaeologists and palaeontologists in 1984, in the western part of Rome between Via Boccea and Via Aurelia. The remains belonged to Elephas Antiquus, a species that has been extinct for over 30,000 years. These gigantic ancestors of today's elephants had tusks up to four metres long.

There are also other animal remains at the site, including oxen, buffalo, wolves, rhinoceroses and aquatic birds, all of which inhabited the area 300,000 years ago.

In 1999 the archaeological superintendency of Rome spent one billion lire building a shelter to protect the find.

For information tel. 0639967700, Mon-Sat 09.00-13.30, 14.30-17.30, www.pierre-ci.it.