It is estimated that the Pueblo II people built the kiva at Ladle House sometime between A.D. 1000 and 1080. This estimate was developed by comparing the kiva at Ladle House to other well-dated kivas which share certain architectural and ceramic characteristics. The Ladle House date is, of necessity, an estimate, because the kiva lacked "hard" chronometric data, such as dendrochronological and archaeomagnetic samples, which could have provided a more specific date.
Architecturally, the kiva at Ladle House contains four pilasters and lacks a southern recess. This style of construction is usually found in kivas which were built prior to 1000, and is usually lacking in kivas which were built after 1100.
Ceramically, the kiva at Ladle House contained sherd types which were manufactured from 880 to 1200. (It also contained other sherd types, but these are interpreted as being from the Early Anasazi occupation of the site.) The overlapping of the time ranges for these ceramics indicates that the kiva was built between 1000 and 1080.
The actual construction work on the kiva probably lasted only one season. Once the pit was dug, it would have been necessary to get the structure roofed before the winter snows and freezing temperatures destroyed the interior walls.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Pueblo II people lived at Ladle House for only a few years. This interpretation is based on the fact that the midden is "thin" and contains relatively few artifacts. The people did live here long enough, however, to find it necessary to replaster portions of the kiva floor and south wall.
Evidence from the kiva suggests that the Pueblo II people leisurely abandoned the site. Before they left, they apparently took the time to dismantle the kiva roof and remove the beams. It is assumed that they carried these beams to their new, and probably nearby, house location, where they reused them during construction.
Sometime not too long after the kiva was dismantled, the remains of at least two people were deposited in the collapsed pit. We do not know how or whether these people were related to Ladle House and its abandonment. Were they the original occupants of the kiva whose deaths prompted its abandonment? Or did they die elsewhere and their bodies were returned to the site, where later carnivores dismembered them? Is the interpretation of leisurely abandonment wrong? Were these people killed in their home during a raid, with the raiders taking personal goods and roof beams? Or were these individuals completely unrelated to the occupation of Ladle House?