Image: Ahu-parau - Pearl-cloth ornament, Society Islands

Ahu-parau (Pearl-cloth ornament) - Society Islands, French Polynesia. Collected on Cook's 2nd or 3rd voyage (1772-1780). Acquired by the New South Wales Government in 1894. Part of a mourning dress worn during the heva ceremony - Pearl shell, beads, thread

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© Australian Museum

Last Updated: 23 October 2009

Tags Death Online, mourning the dead, heva ceremony, Society Islands, Tahiti,