Ladders have existed longer then recorded history.Images of ladders can be found from cave drawings 10,000 years ago.They were made from grass and used to collect honey from hives.Ladders have been an essential tool in the rise of civilization.They have been used in construction, warfare, agriculture, and exploration.While it is a humble simple tool, it has helped shape our culture in significant ways.Today nearly every home has an aluminum ladder.The platform ladder is designed to keep workers safe which helps to eliminate workman compensation claims for the employer.An industrial ladder is a piece of equipment that can be a marvel of engineering.They have developed and adapted to be use in many functions.Ladders have been a standard weapon in warfare, used both in offense and defense.In the South West United States there are many cliff dwellings that are accessed by using ladders.Cliff dwellings are remarkable constructions built to be shaded during the heat of summer and warmed by the sun in the cold of winter.Many dwellings have holds carved into the rock for access.One interesting feature is that these will often lack carved holds in certain places.These places had ladders that could be easily pulled up making access to the dwelling difficult and providing another layer of protection.In medieval times ladders were a standard tool for scaling castle walls, both inside and out.Armies would march to castle walls and build as many ladders as they could to launch an assault.Climbing over a castle wall was nearly impossible and required an all out assault with a high casualty rate.The ability to scale the castle wall with a ladder almost always met with failure.If a campaign set 30 ladders against the castle wall, 29 of the ladders would be defeated.But the attacking army rarely needed more then one ladder to be successful to turn the tide of a battle.Ladders could also be used as bridges to cross a gap in a wall, or a moat at the base.In a different kind of battle, fighting fires, ladders have been an essential tool.Ladder trucks have become one of the primary weapons against fighting fires in multiple story buildings.There are many people walking this earth today because they have been plucked from the flames by a fireman on a ladder.Many more have been saved by fire escapes with the exterior ladder attached to the buildings outside structure.Residential homes can be equipped with rope ladders that can be used to provide fire safety and peace of mind to homeowners.The humble ladder has been used through out history and has lifted many and carried many people to safety, victory or great accomplishments.The Sistine chapel would not exist without the use of the ladder.Michelangelo may not have worked his magic on the ceiling without the use of ladders.Humble and common as they are ladders have helped change the face of civilization.
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