All of Us chapter sampler

Timor-Leste 45,000–5,000 BCE Living in caves near rivers and beaches

We walked towards the sunrise, Where the day sweeps from the waves.

We gathered shellfish, baked fat rats Under rock-ledge caves.

Sun-shimmered islands floated, Where blue sky met blue land.

We built great rafts to reach them, Rock axes in our hands.

We floated, hoping, dreaming, Rode the great tides streaming, Winds behind us screaming, At last, waves curved on sand.

Desperate, thirst- and sun-lashed, We stumbled from the sea.

T I M E L I N E

45,000–18,000 BCE Humans in Timor-Leste, Sabah, Sarawak and the Malay Peninsula. 15,000 BCE Peak of the last ice age; sea levels are 200 metres lower than today. 11,000–10,000 BCE Faces chiselled on rocks in Timor caves. 10,000 BCE Melting ice raises sea levels; islands vanish, peninsulas become islands. 10,000–5,000 BCE The climate stabilises after the last ice age, enabling people to travel together.

We carved a face upon the rock to say, ‘I’m here. I’m me.’