Ladders and Axes of the American Southwest’s Pueblo Region, 400-1900 CE: Legacies of technological innovation

This study brings together evidence from artifacts, architecture, dendrochronology, historical documents, and ethnography to detail the histories of the ladders and axes made and used by the American Southwest’s Pueblo people between 400 and 1900 CE. This includes documentation of widely scattered and previously overlooked remains of the ＂classic＂ Pueblo lashed-rung two-pole ladder. These artifacts shared their history with Pueblo stone axes, with both implements coming into widespread use in the 600s-700s CE in response to local developments in pithouse architecture, undergoing only minor change over the next millennium. They were replaced in the 1600s-1700s by new ladder designs and metal axes introduced by Spaniards who were establishing their New Mexico colony at the time, conquering and missionizing its Pueblo residents. Newly compiled dendroarchaeological evidence from Walpi and Acoma pueblos and contemporaneous Navajo sites provides an original perspective on the adoption of metal tools by Native woodworkers.