Britannica
Sources used in this answer
- Micronesian culture - Languages and initial settlement
- Yap Islands
- Stone Age - Oceania
- Melanesian culture - Traditional Melanesia
- Austronesian languages - Prehistoric inferences from subgrouping
- Northern Mariana Islands - People
- Palau - History
- Micronesian culture - Contemporary Micronesia
- Palau - Ethnic groups and languages
Where did the first settlers of western Micronesian islands such as Palau, Yap, and the Marianas likely come from?
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Micronesian culture
Bairiki islet, Tarawa Atoll, Kiri.
The first settlers of western Micronesian islands, specifically Palau, Yap, and the Marianas, likely originated from the Philippines and Indonesia.1
Archaeological evidence, such as radiocarbon dating from stratified deposits in the Marianas, suggests that these islands were occupied as early as 2000 BCE. These migrations are considered distinct from the later movements associated with the Lapita culture that settled other parts of the Pacific. While the languages spoken in these western islands are clearly Austronesian in their general affiliation, they remain relatively distinct from one another and from the languages of central and eastern Micronesia.231