Paper short abstract:

This paper describes the rock art found in caves and shelters in the islands of Timor and Alor and compares this corpus with art found throughout the broader region of Island Southeast Asia and the western Pacific.

Paper long abstract:

This paper describes the rock art found in caves and shelters in the island of Timor and compares this corpus with art found throughout the broader region of Island Southeast Asia and the western Pacific. The art sites discussed include both painted art and engravings. The painted art has previously been identified as fitting the criteria used to define the Austronesian Painting Tradition (APT), a body of art sharing motifs, stylistic and locational attributes which is thought to have accompanied the spread of Austronesian-speaking communities through ISEA and into the Pacific after 4000 BP. But is there evidence for this style of art in the homeland of Proto Austronesian, Taiwan, and if not where did it develop?. Previous assessments of the painted and engraved art from Timor are reviewed in a broader regional context and in the light of new finds from the neighbouring island of Alor.