Stone Money

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Stone Money

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The Rock Islands of Palau do not only house wonders such as lush tropical forests, fruit bat

caves, and big banyan trees. Taking a day walk into the jungles of Koror will lead you to the trekthat hides a historical treasure—the Palauan Stone Money.

Also known as a Rai stone, the stone money is a large and circular stone carved out from crystalline limestone in the islands of Palau. It was left sometime long ago by the natives of Yap when they came to Palau to quarry limestone. In outrigger canoes, the Yapese routinely transported stone money on a 500-mile round-trip journey to Palau. They found their way through navigating by the stars. However, one never made it to Yap and this one had been called ever since as the Palauan stone money, the disk, and probably the largest, measures 10 ft. or 3 meters in diameter, 1.5 ft. or 0.5 meters thick, and weighs 8,000 lb. or 4 metric tons. For the stone money to be easily transported, the Yapese carves it circular and make a hole at the center of the stone so that a pole could be put through it and the laborers could carry it. It would take at least a hundred men to carry the largest stone money. For

the privilege of quarrying, the residents of Palau in turn asked the Yapese to pay them back with coconut meat, beads, copra, or in the form of services.

Stone money was used for transactions that involved marriage, political deals, inheritance, sign of alliance, or just in exchange of food. They are also used for different customary functions such as building a house, settlement for death, settlement of divorces, a child birth ceremony, and so forth. There is only a certain number of stone money that is circulated among the people or within clans since it is difficult to make

, much more transport it. Most of stone money are usually placed in specific pathways or in front of meetinghouses. The stone money is moved rarely even though that particular stone money is passed down to another. Previous owners' names are the ones that were passed down to the new one.

Hence, it is possible if only a piece of stone money would be used for settlement

of death and then used for another function by the recipient clan. It can even be that only one piece can circulate among the community.

The trading of stone money ended during the start of the 20th century because of trade disputes that arose the Spanish and German colonization of the area. The Yapese abandoned their quarries and would probably be the reason why one in Palau was left. During the Japanese occupation in World War II, they used some of the stones money as anchors or for construction.

However, in modern-day in Yap, stone money is still used in traditional means, although Western-style money has replaced the stones as the currency. In Yap, stone money is considered as a national symbol and is seen on local license plates. But in Palau, it is an ancient wonder that lies on the jungle floors, always there to remind trekkers of the island's rich cultural heritage.