Some scholars have proposed that the Cherethites were a second wave of migrants, the Philistines being the first, and that their initial staging post from which they spread was Ziklag, having taken this over as their capital from the Philistines.
Scholars propose that the Cherethites constituted a subsequent migration wave after the Philistines. Their starting point for spreading was Ziklag, where they seized control of the city from the Philistines and made it their capital.