Does hard work pay off?

It certainly does not go without saying that the people who work hardest always earn the most.

But with rai stones, there is a link between hard work and wealth. The heavy stones were used as payment in the Yap Islands. The men rowed them home from islands over 400 kilometres away. This hard work was one of the things that gave the rai stones their value.

Rai stone. Yap Islands. Probably 19th century. Limestone.