Before 1500 CE, Native American cultures took advantage of southern Arizona’s long growing season and tackled its challenge of limi­ted precipitation by developing the earliest and most extensive irrigation works in all of North America. Agriculture was introduced to Arizona more than 4,000 years before pre­sent, with developed irrigation systems arising at least 3,500 years ago – several centuries be­fore ancient Mexico established irrigation. This presentation will offer an overview of ancient irrigation systems in the southern Southwest and discusses its implications for understanding the social complexity of our region's ancient cultures.

A Q&A session will follow Al's talk and we'll adjourn the meeting no later than 7:00PM New Mexico/6:00 PM Arizona time. GCAS members, check your email inbox for your Zoom invitation.

Old Pueblo Archaeology Center features a small snapshot of Al's accomplishments:

Allen Dart, a Registered Professional Archaeologist, earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico and the University of Arizona, respectively. From 1975 to 2019 Al was employed as a professional archaeologist with the Arizona State Museum (University of Arizona), the Museum of New Mexico, Pima Community College, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the US Bureau of Indian Affairs, private cultural resources consulting firms, and Old Pueblo Archaeology Center. He cofounded Old Pueblo in 1993 with Carolyn O’Bagy Davis and Marc Severson, was appointed full-time Executive Director when the Board of Directors was formed on January 11, 1994, and since 2008 has volunteered his time as Old Pueblo’s Executive Director for a salary of $1 per year. Al serves on the nonprofit Southwestern Mission Research Center’s Board of Directors and is a member of Old Pueblo Archaeology Center (charter member) and the Albuquerque Archaeological Society, Archaeological Conservancy, Archaeology Southwest, Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS; life member), Arizona Archaeological Council, Arizona Archaeological Society (AAS), Arizona State Museum (charter member), Friends of Pueblo Grande Museum, Grant County (NM) Archaeological Society, New Mexico Archaeological Council, Pinal County (AZ) Historical Society (life member), Register of Professional Archaeologists, Society for American Archaeology, and Texas Archeological Society. He has served as a presenter for the Arizona Humanities AZ Speaks program since 1997 and has received the AAS Professional Archaeologist of the Year Award, the AAHS Victor R. Stoner Award, the Arizona Governor’s Archaeology Advisory Commission Award in Public Archaeology, and other honors for his efforts to bring archaeology and history to the public.

We'll see you next Wednesday!

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