During high temperatures, bring plenty of water, a hat, 

bug spray and sunscreen. Watch for cactus where you 

step, and be careful of rattle-snakes. On hot days snakes 

will be in shady areas; on cool days they will be out in 

the sun. 

Please leave the site and its archaeological remains 

in place - IT IS THE LAW! Picking up and taking even a 

small piece of pottery with you is illegal, and can mean 

that important scientific information is lost. Please leave 

the site as you found it so that it can be enjoyed by 

future visitors.

Also remember to carry out any trash you bring - LEAVE 

NO TRACE of your visit to your remarkable public lands. 

Bureau of Land Management

Rio Puerco Field Office

100 Sun Ave. NE

Pan American Bldg., Suite 330

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109

505/761-8700 or

El Malpais Ranger Station

505/280-2918

or

www.blm.gov/new-mexico

The Dittert

Site

El Malpais National Conservation Area

BLM/NM/GI-002-006-1220

In case of emergency:

BLM Rio Puerco Law Enforcement – 505/761-8700

Immediate Emergency – 911

BLM 24-hour Santa Fe Law Enforcement – 

505/827-9377
large rooms, a blocked-in kiva, two roads (networked to 

the larger Chacoan communities), and an unroofed Great 

Kiva nearby. The architecture resembles that of Casamero Ruin, a Chacoan outlier that is located 60 miles to the 

north. In spite of these similarities, Dittert’s excavations 

indicated the site was built on the mound of an earlier 

ruin. The roof beams he excavated dated to the 1200s, 

long after the Chacoan system was dissolved. The question still remains unanswered “Was this site reoccupied 

and remodeled 100 years after the Anasazi abandoned 

Chaco Canyon?”

What Happened to the People?

Dittert’s survey indicated the area experienced a period 

of explosive population growth. During this period, erosion and arroyo formation began. Crop fields would have 

been destroyed by flash floods. Tree-ring studies dating 

from A.D. 1250 to 1300 show that the area experienced 

drought conditions that would have caused crop failures 

year after year. These hard conditions led the occupants to abandon the Dittert Site. After abandonment 

the site showed signs that the occupants intended to 

return. Roofs were still intact, rooms were not burned 

and the furniture was left in place. However, no one ever 

returned. The people who left this site probably moved 

east to join Acoma Pueblo. Present-day Acoma people 

consider Dittert an important ancestral site.

When You Visit

The ruin can sometimes be difficult to find, there is 

no established trail that leads directly to the site. Follow the map or use these coordinates: N 34°39.552, W 

107°58.332. The elevation of the site is 7284 ft. 

Sometime between A.D. 1000 and 1300, the Dittert Site was built and occupied by the Anasazi people. 

They were the ancestors of modern Pueblo Indian people. The ruin is an L-shaped masonry structure that was 

originally two stories high and consisted of 30-35 rooms 

and a kiva. The site was named after Alfred “Ed” Dittert 

Jr. who along with R.J. Ruppe Jr. excavated it between 

1947 and 1949. The two men recorded eight rooms and 

the kiva.

All the rooms were built close together, with the kiva 

incorporated into the building. The walls are made of 

compound masonry with “pecked” sandstone (worked 

by hand so the rocks are uniform). The Dittert Site is one 

of more than 60 sites in the Armijo Canyon area. These 

sites clearly form a community in which the Dittert Site 

was probably central.

Is the Dittert Site a Chacoan Outlier?

Between about A.D. 950 and 1150, Chaco 

Canyon was an important place for the Anasazi 

people. Chaco’s influence spread throughout 

the “four corners” region (northwestern New 

Mexico, southwestern Colorado, southeastern 

Utah and northeastern Arizona). The Chaco 

Canyon culture had many “outlier” communities, 

usually with a “great house” (an unusually large 

building with more than one story and many 

rooms) and a kiva that was built within the 

block of rooms. These communities often had 

associated roads and very large kivas called 

“Great Kivas.” The communities in El Malpais 

resemble those of Chaco Canyon with scattered 

2- to 6-room masonry houses and a great house. 

The Dittert Site has a Chacoan appearance with