Aztec National Monument

June 14, 2010 -- I'm not going to hold back, Aztec National Monument is one of my favorite pueblo ruins destinations.  I've actually been to the site a couple of times and am more fasinated each time I visit.

With ruins sprawled out across an easily accessible 27 acre complex, Aztec National Monument is a great introduction into Pueblo culture for just about any visitor.

The park has an interpretive trail that highlights the unique structures and gives insightful commentary on scientific and native american interpretation of the site.

Interpretation has always been a challenge for those exploring the site. Originally thought to be the ruins of the Aztec by early white settlers, history has refutted any connection to the Aztecs yet the name remains.

The site nearly 55 miles north of Chaco Canyon, has over 400 rooms and multiple kivas.

Inside the cool rooms are connecting passages and the mortar holding carefully placed stone still have the impressions of the hands that originally constructed the impressive complex.

Many mysteries continue to haunt Aztec ruins. My paricular favorite is the meaning and purpose of a section of the complex that accentuates two horizontal bands of black rock in the construction of an outer wall.

For most the highlight of Aztec Ruins National Monument is the reconstructed Great Kiva.  One of the largest kivas in the SouthWest the Great Kiva at Aztec has been rebuilt and provides an exceptional view into the possibilities of the past.

For more on Aztec National Monument the following site provides some great information. 

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!