The Pueblo II people apparently abandoned their kiva in a leisurely fashion. They probably took some of their belongings with them and left only a few of their tools. People also dismantled the roof and removed the beams for use in other structures. However, it is not clear whether this was done by the inhabitants of Ladle House as they left the site or by other Anasazi people in the area.
The soil layers which filled the kiva indicate that sometime shortly after its last use, the roof of the kiva was dismantled. To dismantle the roof, the salvagers first scraped away the earthen covering and then removed the underlying beams. The collecting of roof timbers which were probably fairly long and heavy suggests that the salvagers did not move a very long distance.
The following presents a scenario which explains the soil deposits found in the structure.
Directly above the floor was a layer of ash. During the time that the Anasazi lived in the kiva, most of this ash was contained within the hearth and the ash pit. However, when the Anasazi dismantled the roof, debris fell into the kiva and scattered the ash around the floor.
Technical Soil Description, Layer 1.- Color: grayish-brown; Munsell (dry) = 10YR 5/2 - Character: very finely grained ash - Compaction: loose - Inclusions: artifacts
Above the ash was a layer of soil containing artifacts and chunks of mortar and sandstone. This layer was once part of the masonry veneer which covered the southern wall of the kiva. When the Anasazi dismantled the roof, the pushing and prying of beam removal loosened the veneer from the underlying wall.
Technical Soil Description, Layer 2. -Color: mottled grayish-brown; Munsell (dry) = 10YR 5/2 -Character: medium-grained clay loam -Compaction: medium -Inclusions: artifacts, sandstone, charcoal pieces, chunks and flecks of calcium carbonate, and clean brown clay-loam (mortar)
When the masonry veneer fell off the south kiva wall, the underlying wall was exposed. This "wall" was in fact the fill of the earlier Basketmaker III pithouse into which the kiva had been built. Without the masonry veneer to stabilize the loose fill, it too collapsed into the interior of the kiva, right on top of the layer of fallen masonry veneer.
Lying on top of this layer (as well as Layers 1 and 2) were the partial skeletons of at least two people. It is hypothesized that these people once lived at the site, although no conclusive proof of this was found. These people do not appear to have been formally buried here. This interpretation is based on the fact that the skeletons were incomplete, not found in formalized pits, lacked associated burial goods, and showed evidence of carnivore disturbance.
Technical Soil Description, Layer 3. - Color: grayish-brown; Munsell( dry) = 10YR 5/2 - Character: finely grained ashy silt - Compaction: loose - Inclusions: carbon and calcium carbonate flecks, and artifacts
Covering the ash, the masonry veneer, the pithouse fill and the skeletal remains was a thick layer of mostly waterlain soil. This layer was the remains of the earthen covering which the Anasazi had to scrape off the beams when they dismantled the kiva roof. Over time, erosion moved this earth into the kiva pit. Because the earthen covering had originally been made, at least in part, of fill removed from the Basketmaker III pithouse, it contained materials which dated to that period, in addition to materials which dated to the Pueblo II period. That is, Layer 4 was found to contain both Basketmaker III and Pueblo II ceramics, and pieces of wood which were dendrochronologically dated to the Basketmaker III period.
Technical Soil Description, Layer 4. - Color: brown; Munsell (dry) = 7.5YR 5/3 - Character: finely grained silt and clay laminae - Compaction: medium - Inclusions: carbon flecks and pieces, small tabular sandstone pieces, calcium carbonate flecks, a few large fragments of tabular sandstone, pieces of adobe (more numerous in the south end) and artifacts
Filling the remainder of the pit, from Layer 4 up to modern ground surface, was Layer 5. This layer was composed of wind-and-waterlain soils and decomposed plants. By the time excavations began on the kiva in 1994, only the faintest hint of a pit was still visible on the surface.
Technical Soil Description, Layer 5. - Color: light to dark brown; Munsell (dry) = 7.5YR 5/3 - Character: fine- to medium-grained clay loam; a few sandy wash lenses present - Compaction: medium to hard - Inclusions: rootlets, small sandstone pieces, pebbles, carbon flecks and pieces, burned adobe pieces and artifacts