CONNIE COLBERT
From Humble Beginnings
A group of students who are participating in the Old Pueblo Educational Neighborhood program study a model Hohokam pithouse to understand how it was built.
ALLEN DART’S WEEKEND ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECTS HAVE EVOLVED INTO THE OLD PUEBLO ARCHAEOLOGY CENTER. BY NANCY TRAVER
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rchaeologist Allen Dart bought a house southwest of Tucson in 1987. He noticed a number of archaeological sites in the area, and in his spare time he began to record these sites. Word spread. Soon, people began approaching Dart to ask if they could help.“I realized people were just hungry to dig and to learn about excavating,” he said.
american archaeology
He developed a core of volunteers, and soon his following grew so large that Dart formed a nonprofit organization to obtain grants to do more work and create more opportunities for volunteers.That was 1994, the date the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center was born.“I was continually barraged with requests from people to dig,” said Dart, who became the center’s executive director.“I set up the
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