Images

This painting is of Tahitians in a canoe and was done by Henry Byam Martin, a ship captain who visited Tahiti in the mid-1800s CE. Martin was a captain in the British Navy who painted and drew during his travels. This picture was painted...

An engraving by W. Watts, based on a drawing from life by William Hodges (1744–1797 CE), showing Tongan Polynesians and their canoes, from Captain James Cook’s (1728–1779 CE) visit to Tonga 1773-4 CE, published in Boats of the Friendly Isles...

Map showing the Polynesian Triangle and some of its islands.

Maya vessel depicting several mythological scenes. This part of the vessel depicts a god with a spotted tail and ears. The dog is a companion of death, and like his own has a dark nature. Found in Guatemala, attributed to the "Metropolitan...

Ceramic sculpture of a reclining dog. Associated with the Comala people. Colima, Mexico. c. 200 BCE-300 CE. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ceramic sculpture of a snarling dog. Associated with the Comala people. Colima, Mexico. c. 200 BCE-300 CE. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Painting of the dog-headed Aztec god Xolotl with the fire serpent Xiuhcoatl. From the pre-Hispanic "Borgia Codex", 16th Century CE. Image taken from a facsimile in the collection of the British Museum.

Head of the Aztec god Xolotl. Collection of National Anthropological Museum, Mexico City.

Drawing of the Aztec god Xolotl, playing ball. From a facsimile of the pre-Hispanic Codex Fejérváry-Mayer. Collection of the British Museum.

Statue of a dog holding a cob of maize (corn) in its mouth, from Colima, Mexico, c. 100 BCE to 300 CE. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.