### L930 strategic marriages helped bind seafaring island people Long distance voyaging along familiar routes lay at the core of this “empire,” combined with strategic marriages that cemented ties over hundreds of miles. Prestigious goods such as mats, feathers, sandalwood, bark cloth, canoes, and pottery flowed into Tongatapu, the pinnacle of what became a highly stratified, quite stable society. Tongan royal power depended on a seamless knowledge of surrounding waters that blurred the distinctions between land and sea. #xref [[marriage]] - [[Beyond the Blue Horizon by Brian Fagan#L930 strategic marriages helped bind seafaring island people|View in Vault]]