Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9201
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A tupapow (tupapau), or burial shed
Date
1773
Creator
William Woollett (1735 - 1785, British) , Engraver
Object type
Library reference
43369
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 225mm
width (print): 340mm
width (print): 340mm
Subject
Description
A tupapow (tupapau), or burial shed, and a Tahitian priest, observed by Lieutenant James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour, Tahiti, 1769. In the tupapow, "posts are set up to support the bier ... And here the body remains to putrify till the flesh is wholly wasted from the bones." Illustration from An account of the voyages ...for making discoveries in the southern hemisphere, by John Hawkesworth (London, 1773).
Associated place