Shipton, CeriMorley, Mike W.Kealy, ShimonaNorman, KasihBoulanger, ClaraHawkins, StuartLitster, MiraniWithnell, CaitlinO’Connor, Sue2025-12-182025-12-182041-1723PubMed:38778054WOS:001229525900023ORCID:/0000-0002-0646-1313/work/195966577ORCID:/0000-0001-9381-078X/work/195968523https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733796658Archaeological evidence attests multiple early dispersals of Homo sapiens out of Africa, but genetic evidence points to the primacy of a single dispersal 70-40 ka. Laili in Timor-Leste is on the southern dispersal route between Eurasia and Australasia and has the earliest record of human occupation in the eastern Wallacean archipelago. New evidence from the site shows that, unusually in the region, sediment accumulated in the shelter without human occupation, in the window 59-54 ka. This was followed by an abrupt onset of intensive human habitation beginning similar to 44 ka. The initial occupation is distinctive from overlying layers in the aquatic focus of faunal exploitation, while it has similarities in material culture to other early Homo sapiens sites in Wallacea. We suggest that the intensive early occupation at Laili represents a colonisation phase, which may have overwhelmed previous human dispersals in this part of the world.Funding for this project was provided by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage grant awarded to S.O.C. (CE170100015), with additional contributions from a Future Fellowship (FT180100309) awarded to M.W.M. We are grateful to Manuel Ximenes Smith, Diretor Geral da Arte e Cultura, and Gaspar Jose Fatima da Costa, Chefo do Suco de Laleia, for permission to conduct the research. We thank Lurdes Pires, Karene Chambers, Tierney Lu, Marc Verhoeven, the staff of the cultural heritage office, and the villagers of Laili for assistance in the field. We appreciate the guidance of Zenobia Jacobs and Lee Arnold with the OSL dating.15en© The Author(s) 2024.CaveColonizationJinmium rock shelterMultiple grainsNorthern australiaPaleogeographyQuartzSingleStimulated luminescenceTimor-leste2024-05-2210.1038/s41467-024-48395-x85194016179