This Chacoan Outlier site south of El Malpais National Monument is a small and enjoyable trip to an off the beaten path remnant of the Chacoan Anasazi era that sits on the Chaco Meridian. It was most likely constructed before the fall of Chaco but then briefly built up and used as the Chacoan elite migrated south towards Paquime in Old Mexico. The Chacoan elites loved their straight roads and that included the Meridian which linked Sacred Ridge, Aztec, Chaco, and Paquime or Casas Grandes. The pueblo isn’t quite a Great House although it is two stories and it contains around 35 rooms. It seems to have two building patterns though: Chacoan masonry and local adobe. The main phase of this building was after the fall of Chaco and the Anasazi Civil War (Listen to my episode over that here) in the 1200s, which indicates to me that it was only temporarily used as the Anasazi travelled south.

To reach the site, park at the parking lot, take the only worn path you can see after crossing the fence, and then once you reach Armijo Canyon, cross it and head straight north. Don’t go too far into the tree line as it is right at the edge.

I have travelled to many sites, too many to count, but one of my proudest finds was here when I discovered a worked bead. I assume it was once on a necklace but who knows. How did I find it? Ant hills. Always check ant hills at the sites of the Ancient Ones.

There is a large kiva at the site, a few Chacoan Roads that lead out to other pueblos, and even some petroglyphs on the sandstone cliffs to the northeast. The site was excavated in 1947 by Ed Dittert Jr. whom gave the site its name.