<P> The Taíno women were highly skilled in agriculture . The people depended on it, but the men also fished and hunted . They made fishing nets and ropes from cotton and palm . Their dugout canoes (kanoa) were made in various sizes, which could hold from 2 to 150 people . An average - sized canoe would hold about 15--20 people . They used bows and arrows for hunting, and developed the use of poisons on their arrowheads . </P> <P> A frequently worn hair style for women featured bangs in front and longer hair in back . They sometimes wore gold jewelry, paint, and / or shells . Taíno men and unmarried women were usually naked although women wore a small cotton apron after marriage called a nagua . The Taíno lived in settlements called yucayeques, which varied in size depending on the location . Those in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola were the largest, and those in the Bahamas were the smallest . In the center of a typical village was a central plaza, used for various social activities such as games, festivals, religious rituals, and public ceremonies . These plazas had many shapes, including oval, rectangular, and narrow and elongated . Ceremonies where the deeds of the ancestors were celebrated, called areitos, were performed here . </P> <P> Often, the general population lived in large circular buildings (bohios), constructed with wooden poles, woven straw, and palm leaves . These houses, built surrounding the central plaza, could hold 10 - 15 families each . The cacique and his family lived in rectangular buildings (caney) of similar construction, with wooden porches . Taíno home furnishings included cotton hammocks (hamaca), sleeping and sitting mats made of palms, wooden chairs (dujo or duho) with woven seats, platforms, and cradles for children . </P> <P> The Taíno played a ceremonial ball game called batey . Opposing teams had 10 to 30 players per team and used a solid rubber ball . Normally, the teams were composed of men, but occasionally women played the game as well . The Classic Taíno played in the village's center plaza or on especially designed rectangular ball courts called batey . Games on the batey are believed to have been used for conflict resolution between communities . The most elaborate ball courts are found at chiefdoms' boundaries . Often, chiefs made wagers on the possible outcome of a game . </P>

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