纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 065泰诺仪式用椅（6）（在线收听）

The Taino world was run by chiefdoms - centres of power whose leaders fought, negotiated and allied among themselves. They generally lived in settlements of a few thousand people, in large circular houses, each accommodating perhaps a dozen families, clustered around a central square. Some distance away would stand the chief's house, which would also double as the local sacred space or temple, and it's here that the duho was put to work.

We don't know who would have made these duhos, but certainly the materials were very deliberately chosen. The wood of the duho is native to the Caribbean, and it fascinated the Europeans who encountered it. They called it 'lignum vitae' - the 'wood of life' - because of its remarkable qualities. Its resin was used to treat a wide range of ailments, from sore throats to syphilis, and when combined with alcohol it turns blood blue. It's also one of the few woods that won't float - it's so dense that it sinks in water. One Spaniard wrote admiringly of the duhos: "They are made of such beautiful, smooth and perfect wood, that nothing else more beautiful was ever made of gold or silver."

泰诺社会采用首领制，各社群首领彼此间进行争斗、谈判或结盟。一个社群通常有数千人，他们围绕一个中央广场修建宽敬的圆形房屋，每座房屋可容纳约十二户家庭。首领的居所略微离群，通常也兼具圣地或神庙的功用，是都何使用的场地。

我们不知道这些都何的制造者是谁，但可以一眼看出其木料经过精挑细选。这种木材产自加勒比海地区，曾让欧洲人惊艳，因其特殊质地又被欧洲人称为“lignum vitae”,生命之树。它的树脂曾被用来治疗小到感冒、大至梅毒的多种疾病。它也是少数因密度很大而能够沉入水底的木材。一名西班牙人曾撰文感叹："它们用如此美丽光滑、近乎完美的木材雕成，让金银器物都相形见绌。”