  Determining the star formation history (SFH) is key to understand the
formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies. Recovering the SFH in resolved
galaxies is mostly based on deep colour--magnitude diagrams (CMDs), which trace
the signatures of multiple evolutionary stages of their stellar populations. In
distant and unresolved galaxies, the integrated light of the galaxy can be
decomposed, albeit made difficult by an age--metallicity degeneracy. Another
solution to determine the SFH of resolved galaxies is based on evolved stars;
these luminous stars are the most accessible tracers of the underlying stellar
populations and can trace the entire SFH. Here we present a novel method based
on long period variable (LPV) evolved asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and
red supergiants (RSGs). We applied this method to reconstruct the SFH for IC
1613, an irregular dwarf galaxy at a distance of 750 kpc. Our results provide
an independent confirmation that no major episode of star formation occurred in
IC 1613 over the past 5 Gyr.
