The painted fragments collected during the archaeological excavation campaign in the San Giovanni Battista church in Cevio represent a unique patrimony of Romanesque wall painting in Tessin, Switzerland, having a strong stylistic linkage with the Lombardic art of the same period. The archaeological and stylistic research allowed the fragments to be dated between the 11th and 13th centuries AD and to group them in three chronological phases. The scientific research (p-XRF, OM, SEM-EDS, FTIR and XRD) was aimed at characterizing the pigments and the pictorial techniques used. Important changes occurred in terms of some pigments used during the 11th and 12th centuries: in particular, azurite was used to decorate the earlier wall paintings while lapis lazuli was used for the 12th-century ones. During the second period, lead-based pigments (lead white and minium) were introduced into the palette. The use of natural yellow and red ochres and green earth was common for the three periods. The fresco technique was generally used, except for the application of azurite and lead-based pigments, where the a secco technique was adopted. The integrated research is a contribution to the knowledge of Romanesque art in the Insubric Region.

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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.