Although in some ways the Tanimbar family shrines resemble Lakor luli, the chosen decorative motifs clearly represent different social values. It is status, not fertility, that is the dominant factor, a difference which must be seen in the context of the differences in social organization on the islands. On Lakor this was matrilineal, with a predominant role for the founding mother as a source of fertility; in the Tanimbar archipelago descent was through the male line and the ancestors' 'great deeds' were immortalized in many plank statues. Although they developed into shrines for all ancestral power, originally the tavu probably represented only the first male ancestor.