Plant the root and see if it grows. That will give you the answer whether it is alive or not. A healthy dormant root of anything should be at least a little plump and have some heft to it, if it feels dried out to the point of complete dehydration and is very light in weight it is probably dead. If I were you I would contact the sender of the Tacca and ask them if they are confident that the plant they sent is alive.

Here is a Tacca planting/culture guide. - it shows how the root should be positioned in the soil when planting and the pictured root in the guide looks a lot like yours - good luck!

https://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/pages/tacca-planting-guide

i would make a complaint to the seller ...

ken

Maybe you were sent bat guano by mistake.

That is a dead root.