Evolution of fluvial environments and history of human settlements on the Ticino river alluvial plain

Dorota Czerski,Daphné Giacomazzi,Cristian Scapozza

doi:10.5194/gh-77-1-2022

Abstract

Abstract. The present contribution aims to provide better knowledge on the evolution of the fluvial environments of the Ticino river alluvial plain, highlighting the complex interaction of the Ticino river and its lateral tributaries with the human communities since the Neolithic. The study considers information derived from historical sources, from previous research on three sites based in the Ticino river floodplain and from data of six archaeological sites located on four alluvial fans. For the investigated sites the analyses of the lithostratigraphy and the archaeological evidence were constrained with radiocarbon dating, providing the interpretation of the depositional context of the studied sequences and their correlation with the cultural periods and epochs defined for the southern Swiss Alps. The combined approach allowed for the definition of 13 phases of enhanced hydro-sedimentary activity from the Neolithic to the contemporary period. The possible palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic causes, as well as the impacts of these phases on the human settlements, are discussed.

Highlights

The rather capricious nature of the upper part of the Ticino river (Switzerland) has been known since ancient times (e.g. Martinoli, 1896; Grossi, 1986)
This study considers information coming from three sites described in previous research concerning the sedimentary filling of the Ticino river floodplain (Scapozza and Oppizzi, 2013; Scapozza, 2016; Scapozza et al, 2017), as well as information from six archaeological sites located on four alluvial fans of the Ticino river tributaries, which have been the subject of recent excavations (Cardani Vergani, 2018, 2020, 2021; Scapozza and Czerski, 2019)
The radiocarbon dating analyses presented in this contribution were performed on 27 samples: 21 collected on the archaeological sites PRO, GUD, GIU, CLA and TOR (Fig. 1) and 6 associated with the previous study sites MAG and Ticino river floodplain (TIR) (Fig. 1; Scapozza and Oppizzi, 2013; Scapozza et al, 2017)

Summary

Introduction

The rather capricious nature of the upper part of the Ticino river (Switzerland) has been known since ancient times (e.g. Martinoli, 1896; Grossi, 1986). The major floods have been repeated for centuries and have favoured the lateral displacement of the bed on both sides of the valley, creating new fluvial landforms and modifying the topography of the floodplain (Scapozza, 2013; Scapozza and Oppizzi, 2013). This capricious behaviour of the Ticino river became increasingly in conflict with human activities until the flood of 1868, which is known as “la grande alluvione” (lit.: the great flood). It was decided to definitively correct the river and embank it along its entire length (e.g. Martinoli, 1896; Grossi, 1986; Minor et al, 2004; Piffaretti and Luchessa, 2011; Scapozza, 2013)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion