Dittert Site

April 26, 2010-- Today, I've reached a new status according to one of my favorite southwest archaeological guide books which reads, "Mesa Verde and Montezuma Castle are ruins with mass appeal. The Dittert Site, on the other hand, is for the confirmed archaeology buff."

My coronation as a CAB (confirmed archaeology buff) happened as a result of visiting Dittert Site for myself. For those of you that have actually stumbled upon my blog you know I've made it a practice not to disclose locations except generally. As for Dittert Site, the most I'll divulge is that it's more than 40 miles south of Grants, New Mexico in the El Malpais National Conservation Area managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Most people who visit El Malpais usually find themselves traversing the Acoma-Zuni Trail, hiking and gazing at Ventana Arch, or exploring caves deep within the lava flows but El Malpais is also home to countless archaeological wonders seldom publicized if your willing to travel the roads less traveled.

Dittert Site is home to the remains of a masonry structure of approximately 30-35 rooms and a kiva in an "L" shape which was occupied sometime between A.D. 1000 and 1300.

From a distance the site looks simply like a mound of rock, however as one approaches the site shards become evident on the ground despite the lack of a formal trail.

Built with a Chacoan appearance (large rooms, a blocked-in kiva, and evidence of roads) Dittert Site still evokes questions as to weather it is truly a Chacoan outlier community. Certainly the evidence I saw of "pecked" sandstone fitted uniformly and the detail in the kiva and masonry walls reminded me of Chaco Canyon architecture.

From the site view are seemingly endless as you overlook the desolate valleys which may well have been fertile grasslands in the past.

The Dittert Site is probably central to more than 60+ sites in the canyon. Seemingly everywhere you look you can see evidence of former occupation.

Your eyes train themselves to see mounds of sandstone rubble which are evidence of collapsed walls and as you approach them you see pottery shards, obsidian and chert scattered across the ground.

From previous research I suspect that the variety of pottery must represent the semblance of a regional trade as because Cibola white ware and White Mountain Red Wares are mixed with obsidian which was most likely brought from north of Grants and spotted chert from the Zuni to the west.

Regardless of it's origin, the shear number of shards is dizzying and can be found widely dispersed across the landscape.

I spent hours exploring the land when I could have spent days. Certainly, given the chance I need to return to other sites in the region now that I am officially a Certified Archaeology Buff!

Along the banks of the Rio Puerco

I have some favorite places along the eroding banks of the Rio Puerco. For most of the year the small tributary river is a dry bed of sand and eroding banks, but for a few brief weeks during the spring the Rio Puerco carries water from the north to the Rio Grande to the south.

Getting to the Rio Puerco is almost as much of an enjoyment for me as the destination itself. Not far from the dry river banks where I've spent time in the past rock hounding for Agate, Jasper and Petrified wood is access to the river and the incredible vistas of a barren desert.

As I spend more time escaping the world in this desolate and barren landscape my eyes have better trained themselves to notice the beauty and treasures others most assuredly overlook. I now can spot out countless pottery shards washed up on the desolate banks- hollow echoes that this was once a place of economy and life.

There is a peace and calmness only per solitude can give. Of course, my tranquility is quickly shattered when I nearly step into a hole and encourage the desert to come alive in anger as the rattling of a serpent reminds me that while from a distance the desert is empty, the reality is that this land is "occupied"!

Trinity Site (Part II)

 April 2, 2010-- Only two times during the year is the actual Trinity site open to the public, and after family plans to visit cousins in California fell through at the last minute we realized we were actually free on the weekend of the public access date.

As you might recall from my earlier post, I wrote; "July 16, 1945 ushered in a whole new era of consequence when the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated at Trinity Site on the extreme northern end of White Sands Missile Range in central New Mexico. Today, they say Trinity Site is a mildly radioactive blight in the middle of nowhere only few of the general public have seen. In fact, there supposedly are only a few witnesses of the detonation of the atomic bomb back in 1945. Sure windows were blown out in Socorro over a hundred miles away and the ground supposedly shook in Albuquerque but few actually saw the mushroom firsthand."

After passing through a military checkpoint we traveled along what normally would be a lonely two lane highway penetrating the White Sands Missile Range.

Photography is off limits during the travel to Trinity site, and honestly there really isn't much to see except frequent roadsigns warning of Oryx crossing. I followed the rules and kept the camera at bay but I had to include this photo I found on the web of such a sign. Oryx (natives of Africa) were introduced to New Mexico a couple of decades ago and without a natural predator (minus Smith&Wesson) they have entrenched themselves throughout the missile range.

At the site, military police ushered visitors to a gigantic parking lot from where we walked into the site through what would normally be a locked gate.

At the site itself is an erected monument at the center of the detonation.

Trinitite can be found if you look carefully on the ground. It is the a greenish glass which was made during the blast as sand and heat fused.

 Most of it was removed by the military years ago and it is pretty obvious that it is a major offense to take any of it from the site.

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to visit Trinity site. It is a fascinating history lesson which I pray the world will never forget.