Once the Pueblo II people had finished their work inside the kiva, they could begin their work outside the kiva, constructing the above-ground roof. We do not know exactly how the Pueblo II builders constructed their kiva roof, because no evidence of it was located in the fill of the structure. The only hint of the roof comes from the presence of one definite and three possible pilasters on the bench. Therefore what follows is a hypothesized roof construction sequence, based on the limited information which is available.
Traditionally, kiva roofs were built by cribbing horizontal beams from pilaster to pilaster. These beams were laid up in courses, each one smaller in diameter than the last. In the kiva at Pat's Ladle House, the pilasters are spaced about 8 feet apart around the bench and rise to a total height of 3'3" (1m) above the floor. If the builders of this kiva had used traditional cribbing techniques, the minimum interior ceiling height would have been 3'3".
Considering that other evidence suggests a person 5'6" tall lived at this site, it seems reasonable to suppose that the ceiling was at least 5'7" tall and was constructed by some method other than cribbing. Perhaps at this kiva, the pilasters served as basal supports for upright posts on which the rest of the roof was built. Perhaps the roof was constructed like earlier Basketmaker III and Pueblo I pithouse roofs, which used a square frame placed on upright posts, covered by smaller secondary posts set perpendicular to the frame, which in turn were covered by juniper bark and adobe. If this technique was used, then the upright posts set on the pilasters were probably at least 2' (60 cm) tall.
The CD of this report contains an animation detailing the construction sequence.
The floor of the kiva was formed by applying a coat of mud plaster over the bedrock. The builders probably made this plaster by mixing water with the reddish-brown soil on which the site is situated. Plaster was present over the northern two-thirds of the floor and absent over the southern one-third of the floor, where bedrock was exposed. Whether the southern portion of the floor had its plaster eroded away from use, or whether it had never been coated with plaster is not known.
Remodeling
All houses require some remodeling over the course of time. This kiva was no exception, as was shown through evidence of both floor and wall plaster patching.
The occupants of the kiva apparently replastered part of the kiva floor at least once. Evidence for this was found just west of the central hearth, where it was possible to distinguish between an upper (remodeling) layer and a lower (original) layer of plaster.
The kiva occupants also patched the wall plaster at least once. Evidence for this was found on the lower western and eastern walls. Here, the gray mortar and gray de facto plaster is overlaid in areas by a reddish-brown plaster. The color of this plaster matches the mortar on the south veneer wall, suggesting that the veneer itself might have been a remodel.