KOROR STATE GOVERNMENT MARINE TOUR GUIDE ... - C3

traded metal tools with them, and the Yapese were then able to make larger stone discs
than ever before.
Carving and transporting the discs by sea was no longer a problem, but hauling the
stones from the quarries to the boat was still
difficult and lots of pieces broke on the way or
rolled into the sea.
Apparently the Yapese used to stop in
Ngkeklau on their way back to Yap when they
were still bringing the stones by canoe before
1875. In 1994, a Palauan family who were
building a house near the beach found
fourteen intact pieces of stone money on their
property, ranging from 8 inches to two feet in
diameter, which may have been a storage
place for the Yapese. Other stone discs have
been dug up in other areas in Palau and a few
large, unfinished pieces are still near the
original quarry sites.
PVA
Like the Palauan money beads, the Yapese
discs were exchanged between families
during traditional customs and used to
purchase land on Yap. Yap has limited
limestone ridges, which is why they traveled to
Palau to get these discs. The holes in the
middle made it easier to carry them down to
the canoes.
You can see a huge piece of Yapese stone money on small Rock Island adjacent
to Airai State. It was discovered along with unfinished pieces, metal tools and a
living and burial site by Americans who were recently in Palau searching for WWII
artifacts.
Information Source: Palau- Cultural History 2004. Mandy T. Etpison.
Sources & Additional Reading
The Bureau of Arts & Culture has produced a series of booklets describing different
aspects of traditional Palauan culture. These are available for a small price (around $3)
from the Belau National Museum. Books are also available on most subjects described
as well as many more, from the Belau National Museum and the Etpison Museum.
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