The name, Pennapiedimonte, is derived from la "Pinna", also known as "Cimirocco", which is the huge rock that dominates the higher part of the village ("Balzolo" mt 705 metres), which is located at the foot of the Majella mountain.
This "Pinna" looks like a woman with her head bent who is sitting and holding a baby. From whatever position you look at it, it is astonishing how the image you get doesn't change. Spoken traditions and stories inherited from generation to generation tell us that this woman is Maja, the goddess,  whose son Ermes (Mercury) died in Abruzzo, and she burried him in the valley "Vallone tre Grotte", which is behind the village. Maja was worshipped by pagans from the area, and it is also thought that the name of the Majella mountain has its origin from this legendary woman. 
The origins-   It is certain that "Pinna" already existed in V-IV century B.C. In fact in 1982 some tombs
dating from that period were found whilst work was taking place to build some tennis courts.
The tombs built with slabs of stone and were rich in funeral artifacts and several objects of daily use and male ornaments. One of them in particular was very intersting and thought to belong to the head of a tribe. The well-preserved bronze belt and spear are of exceptional interest to archeologists.
All the remains can be admired in the "Archeological Museum of Chieti". Other chance discoveries made by countrymen were unfortunately not taken into account and lost.
The population called "Frentani" lived in the area between Pennapiedimonte, Ortona and Vasto. And Mr Antinori reported in his book "Antichità storiche" that the Frentani, who came from Campania, settled between the "Marrucini" and the "Apuli".
Another source, Messrs Del Villano and Di Tillio in "Abruzzo nel tempo", states that they came from Umbria, from an "Umbro Sabellica" tribe
Spoken legends confirm the first theory and there are visible signs within the "Grotta (cave) della Pennicciola" which indicate the existence of the "Caraceni", the population to which the discovered tombs have been attribuited, who also come from the same area of the Campania region. The population that arrived in the Pennapiedimonte territory chose the Ugni Mountain for their settlement, as they could easily find  water and wood there.
The valley was also very good for agriculture and grazing pastures, there were (and there are still are) a lot of natural caves where it was easy to hide in case of war.
Afterwards they moved to the places very near to the current location of the village, better exposed to sunshine and thus better-off in spring time as the snow melted earlier.
Another source, in latin,is a book by the poet Silio Italico, born in Rome in 25 A.C., who mentions in his VIII book on "Guerre puniche", "Pinnam virentem............, Pascuaque haud tarde redentia tondet Avellae".
"The very green Pinna on the mountain of the river Avella, between olive trees and very nice grass ".
There is not a lot of information on the history of Penna and it's origins, but we can be sure that it already existed, in different forms, in the stone and bronze age. Various different populations came and went because of wars, epidemics and natural disasters.

Bibliography:
- Domenico Di Medio- "Parla Pennapiedimonte" Eurografica Edizioni 1988 da cui sono tratti anche alcuni  - brani di:
- Antinori A., "Antichità storiche".
- Del Villano e Di Tillio, "Abruzzo nel tempo".
- Perseo Giuseppe, inserto n.9 del 1986, della rivista "Trekking".
- Silio Italico, VIII libro "Guerre puniche"