In the Late Pleistocene, sea levels were significantly lower, which exposed the floor of the Taiwan Strait as a land bridge.^[4] Significant vertebrate fossils were uncovered between Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, notably a jawbone belonging to an unidentified species of the Homo genus, estimated to be between 450,000 and 190,000 years old.^[5] Modern human evidence on Taiwan dates back to between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago,^[1] with the oldest artifacts being chipped-pebble tools from the Paleolithic Changbin culture. This culture existed up to 5,000 years ago,^[6] as evidenced by sites at Eluanbi. Additionally, sediment analysis from Sun Moon Lake indicates slash-and-burn agriculture began 11,000 years ago, ceasing 4,200 years ago with the rise of rice cultivation.^[7] As the Holocene commenced 10,000 years ago, sea levels rose, forming the Taiwan Strait and isolating Taiwan from the mainland.^[4]

Approximately in 3,000 BCE, the Neolithic Dapenkeng culture emerged, spreading swiftly around Taiwan's coast. Distinguished by corded-ware pottery and polished stone tools, this culture cultivated rice and millet but heavily depended on marine resources. It is widely believed that the Dapenkeng culture was introduced to Taiwan by ancestors of the current Taiwanese aborigines, who spoke early Austronesian languages.^[2] Descendants of these people migrated from Taiwan to various regions in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans. Notably, the Malayo-Polynesian languages, now spoken across vast territories, form just one branch of the Austronesian family, with the remaining branches exclusive to Taiwan.^[8] Furthermore, trade with the Philippine archipelago commenced from the early 2nd millennium BCE, incorporating the use of Taiwanese jade in the Philippine jade culture.^[9] Several cultures succeeded the Dapenkeng, with the introduction of iron in cultures like the Niaosung,^[10] and by around 400 CE, local bloomeries produced wrought iron, a technology possibly acquired from the Philippines.^[11]