3400 BC to 1300

The first Timorese

People reached Timor at least 42,000 years ago: at Jerimalai cave on the eastern tip, archaeologists found fish bones, including tuna, that are among the oldest evidence of deep sea fishing in the world. Later, Austronesian speaking farmers settle among the earlier Papuan speaking peoples, which is why Tetum and Fataluku belong to two different language families.