A History of the World in 100 Objects: Taino Ritual Seat

Director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card, using 100 selected objects from the Museum. Neil tells the story of a beautifully carved ritual seat, an object which has survived the destruction of the Caribbean culture that produced it. This four-legged wooden stool, or duho, with its long shape and wide-eyed face probably belonged to a chief, or 'cacique', of the Taino people of the Caribbean. Taino was a term used to describe a spectrum of peoples who originated in South America and who populated the whole region, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Neil tells the story of the Taino-speaking people and their demise following the arrival of Europeans, archaeologist Jose Oliver looks at how the Taino spread around the Caribbean, and Puerto Rican scholar Gabriel Haslip-Vieira explains their impact on the region today